Transforming Rural China

Reviews / Votes

'This book offers an impressive and very insightful overview of China's rural development policies since the 1980s and their outcomes. Guy M. Robinson tackles issues ranging from poverty alleviation, ecological restoration programs and the rise of cooperatives to land consolidation and agricultural modernization. He does not shy away from contentious issues like China's one-child policy, forced resettlement policies, and rural development policies in western China's ethnically and culturally diverse regions. A must-read for anyone interested in gaining an objective, science-based view of China's rural transformation.' -- Nico Heerink, Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands 'Informed by half a century of research on rural and environmental dynamics and an extensive review of writings by Chinese scholars, Guy M. Robinson provides an accessible and comprehensive survey of China's multifaceted and uneven rural-urban, and accompanying agrarian, demographic and social transitions. Along the way, Transforming Rural China is also a valuable guide to further reading on an array of topics, from China's ecological discourses to regional development and rural tourism.' -- James D Sidaway, National University of Singapore 'Professor Robinson gives us a unique and clear perspective on China's rural transformation. He began with the guidance of a Cambridge-trained teacher who shared much of the Western bias towards China. Eventually, through his own endeavours, the collaboration of his Chinese students and friends, and numerous visits to China, he developed an understanding of rural China that most Westerners still do not comprehend, which he shares in this book.' -- Helen Bao, University of Cambridge, UK