The Strategy Of Development Social Work In Rural Industry Revitalization And The Dilemma Of Elite Capture

In the context of rural revitalization,more and more social work scholars and practitioners are participating in rural revitalization projects.Due to the high compatibility between the concept of livelihood oriented development social work and the strategic objectives of rural revitalization,many pioneers of development oriented social work have widely implemented practices in rural areas to seek rural revitalization,such as carrying out rural industry revitalization projects and undertaking farmers’ cooperatives.Such developmental social work projects targeting incubating farmers’ cooperatives have explored a wealth of practical experience,while also facing difficulties such as "elite capture".This study analyzes the action strategies and practical dilemmas of developing social work to assist rural industry revitalization by analyzing the sticky rice ecological planting project carried out by X organization in G village and undertaking farmers’ cooperatives as an example.It summarizes its experience and wisdom and analyzes the dilemmas.This article adopts a case study method,taking the glutinous rice ecological seed cooperative organized by X organization in G village as an example.Firstly,through the literature collection method to query relevant written materials,establish a preliminary understanding of the field;Secondly,participatory observation and in-depth interviews were used to collect empirical materials;Finally,it analyzes the action strategies of X Agency from the perspective of developmental social work theory and summarizes the experience and lessons learned.Based on the analysis of the case,first of all,the strategies of agency X to assist in the revitalization of rural industries include resolving talent bottlenecks through human capital investment,and resolving resource dilemmas through increasing livelihood assets;Secondly,the emergence and intensification of the problem of "elite capture" in farmers’ cooperatives incubated by the X organization in Village G is the result of multiple factors such as the profit-seeking mechanism of the capital,the failure of the role of social workers,the competing interests of rural elites,and the empowerment of ordinary farmers;Finally,based on the analysis of the formation and worsening causes of the dilemma of "elite capture",developing social work to assist in the revitalization of rural industries requires reflection and improvement from aspects such as social worker role positioning,project management,and community education.In practice,this article intends to supplement the Chinese experience and enlightenment of development oriented social work in rural industry revitalization through the case study of X agency’s project in G village;In theory,this article presents an alternative phenomenon of "elite capture" in which the originally disadvantaged groups in villages achieve resource capture under the joint efforts of multiple parties in the project.Attempt to break the dual framework of government rural areas,explore the interactive relationship between multiple subjects such as capital,social work institutions,rural areas,and government in rural revitalization,and establish a new interpretation framework for the actions and dilemmas of development oriented social work from a dual perspective.