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The cover of Clamor in a Small Town

Clamor in a Small Town

Wu Yi, 2007

Wu Yi follows tax collection, land development, crop campaigns and inspections in a Chinese township, showing how officials, village leaders and farmers use authority, persuasion and bargaining.

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15 parts, about 38 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Follow a township from tax inspections to land negotiations through the people who carry out each decision
  • See how officials, village leaders, farmers and investors bargain when formal authority meets limited money and local ties
  • Compare the same government's weak tax collection with its stronger control over land compensation

Who it is for

  • Readers studying Chinese local government and rural politics
  • People interested in fieldwork told through daily encounters
  • Readers examining land disputes, taxes and village leadership

What the summary covers

  1. Entering the town1 min
  2. A town organized around inspection3 min
  3. Development and the price of land3 min
  4. Revenue targets meet households and investors3 min
  5. Agricultural plans and disputed contracts2 min
  6. The work called mei2 min
  7. Further negotiations, new pressures3 min
  8. Old disputes return2 min
  9. Closing the quarries2 min
  10. Persuading farmers to plant2 min
  11. The collector becomes the payer2 min
  12. What the villagers told me3 min
  13. The last collection and two journeys to Beijing3 min
  14. Results without a clean ending4 min
  15. What this town can show3 min

Recommended by

  • Chen BaifengProfessor of law at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law
  • Liu ChangParticipant in a Fuzhou procuratorate book discussion
    这本书为我们提供了一个洞察基层治理的窗口，也为理解中国的乡村政治和社会变迁提供了一个有力的理论框架。

About the author

  • Wu YiRetired professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology
    • 1958年生于重庆，获法学博士学位。
    • 曾任华中科技大学社会学院教授、博士生导师。
    • 研究政治社会学、政治人类学、历史社会学及乡村治理。
    • 先前研究村治变迁，随后将研究单元从村庄提升到乡镇。

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