Identity Construction Of Farmers In The Process Of Modernization

This dissertation takes the Xiguan Village, Meixian County in the western part of Central Shaanxi Plain as the fieldwork site and traces villager Chang's family history to find out how the "peasant status" has been built in modern China, particularly during the process of modernization. In other words, the whole process from the emergence of the concept "peasant" as a social status to its institutionalization and then to the change of the peasant institution is analyzed based on the exposition on the evolution of China's urban areas, rural areas and urban-rural relations as well as the transformation of China's county towns into administrative villages in the context of modernization.In terms of research approach, observations, in-depth interviews, case studies and study of literature are all used in the regional fieldwork. As for the perspective of research, peasants are studied in the context of China's modernization. The focus of research is on the building of institutions, discourse and legitimacy under administrative arrangements since the beginning of modern times, particularly since1949, while the culture and mentality of peasants in pre-modern times are also considered. The purpose is to find out how the peasant status is built during the process of modernization and to analyze the the individual identity of peasants (construction-deconstruction-reconstruction) from the perspective of the relationship between the state and peasants.This dissertation is composed of introduction, main body and conclusions. The main body is divided into three parts or six chapters.The first part includes Chapter1and Chapter2where both historical records and fieldwork documents are referred to for the research. Observations and in-depth interviews are used to collect related data and a diachronic approach is taken in the introduction to the history and cultural traditions of the local society where the Changs'reside as well as the nearly150history of the family from the mid-19th century until today. In describing the family history, the focus is put on three aspects including the development of the family, the development of financial conditions, and social status and change of household register, which provides a complete case and background information for the research into the building of peasant status during the process of modernization.The second part includes Chapter3, Chapter4and Chapter5where research mainly relies on literature and fieldwork documents are complementary. China's modernization as well as urban areas, rural areas and the urban-rural relations, rural China, peasants and the building of their status during the modernization process are discussed and a couple of conclusions are reached. First, the concept of "city" in modern China differs greatly from the traditional idea. The dual urban-rural structure is not a pre-modern legacy but rather an outcome of modern institution. Second, the administrative villages in modern China are also not the same as traditional ones. The transformation of county towns into villages did not start until mid-20th century. Third, modern Chinese peasants are different from the patriarchal peasants in traditional society. Today,"peasant" is a different,"hereditary" social status, an outcome of institutional construction during modernization. It is either reinforced or lightened with the change of modern institutions at different stages.The third part is Chapter6where literature study and theoretical analysis are combined and fieldwork documents are complementary. Based on the interaction between the state and peasants during the modernization process, the different understanding and utilization of peasants at different stages are discussed.The peasant issue is by no means new and confronts countries all over the world while the issue of Chinese peasants is "made in China". Therefore, only by finding out what the situation was in the pre-modern society, can we see clearly what changes have taken place in the modern society; only by addressing the issue in the context of world modernization and the world system, can we understand why the changes have occurred; only by discussing it in the context of China's modernization, can we find how the changes have taken place. Unlike traditional modernization theories where rural areas and peasants are marginalized, this dissertation deals with the building of peasant status in modern times in the context of modernization and from the perspectives of the production of modern knowledge, social classes, institutions and discourse, which is an innovation.