East Asia Workshop: Politics, Economy and Society Presents

 

“Land Requisition and Trust in Rural China”

 

Presenter: Travis Warner

Doctoral Student, Dept of Political Science

UniversityofChicago

 

4:00-5:30pm, Tuesday

October 9, 2012

Pick Lounge, 5828 South University Ave.

 

Abstract

No domestic political issue angers rural Chinese like land requisition. According to one estimate, land conflicts accounted for more than 65% of the 185,000 “mass incidents” reported by the Chinese government in 2010. Clearly, land-related riots and demonstrations present a serious challenge toChina’s central leaders. But do rising levels of rural unrest threaten the legitimacy of the Communist Party? In this article, we shed light on the state-society implications of land requisition by asking whether the experience of losing one’s land erodes villagers’ trust in their leaders—both at the local and national levels. Analyzing data from two distinct villager surveys, we find that dispossession decreases trust in local officials, but not in the central government. We conclude that China’s leaders appear to have “room to maneuver” when it comes to addressing rural issues, although the prospect of declining trust in local officials remains a cause for concern.

Workshop website: http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/eastasia/

Student coordinator: Le Lin (lelin2010@uchicago.edu)

Faculty sponsors: Dali Yang, Dingxin Zhao and Zheng Michael Song

 

This presentation is sponsored by the Council on Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences and Center for East Asian Studies. Persons with disabilities who believe they may need assistance please contact the student coordinator in advance.