Game-playing In The Transition Period：Land Acquisition In The Environs Of Shanghai In1950s(1952-1958)

This dissertation is targeted on land acquisition in the environs of Shanghai in the1950s (1952-1958). Two dimensions render this dissertation a systematic investigation:transition of political institution and the implement of land acquisition. These two dimensions reveal the mode of land acquisition in the planned economy period, as well as the game-playing relationship and inner logic of the attendants of land acquisition:local government, land transferors and land transferees (land-lost farmers).From the dimension of transition of political institution, the legal basis of land acquisition in the environs of Shanghai grew out of nothing in this period. During this period, the central government and local government made an active interaction about land acquisition policies. The growth of land acquisition policies embodied the ideology, which made the government dominate this compulsory transition. The transition, however, was not propelled solo by the central government, but the outcome of game-playing between central government and local government.From the dimension of the implement of land acquisition, government also dominated the implement of land acquisition, which made the political elements inerasable. The mode of land acquisition was going through a transition from privatization to collectivization. Under this mode, financial and other compensation for the land-lost farmers transited along with the tremendous change of society reconfiguration and of land ownership. The mode of land acquisition was settled down around1958and seemed to fit for the planned economy. Game-playing among local government, land transferors and land transferees entangled in this mode transition process.The transitions of land acquisition policies and mode not only were the outcome of the game-playing among its participants, but also closely related to the social reconfiguration. In the game-playing between land transferors and land transferees, land transferees (land-lost farmers) were enslaved by the social institution and "subsistence ethic". Only through this way, their limited benefits could be protected. Land transferors were also slaves of economic management system in the planned economic period, and this lower position made the game-playing between them and local government even fiercer. Game-playing also lay between central government and its agent-local government. The own benefit of local government was the key to the third kind of game-playing.