Rural China, 1985-1990
Are the Reforms Really Bogging Down?
Claude Aubert
215 x 140 mm , 57pp ISBN / ISSN : 9789624417029
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US$3.00
In 1985, crop production in China collapsed after years of good harvests, and the economy appeared to fall into a protracted crisis. While the first reforms to end collectivization in agriculture (1979-1982) had been crowned with success, the second phase of the rural reforms, beginning in 1985 with the reorganization of the marketing channels for agricultural products, seemed to be producing unintended effects. The spirit of innovation seemed to succumb to disorders and impotence, whereas the rising wave of grievances effaced the previous enthusiasm of the peasants. This paper aims to find out if the peasant resistance, that is, the economic resilience and social dynamics, will manage to overcome the Chinese political rigidness and to succeed in pulling the reforms out of the rut into which the authorities have conducted them.