Rural Contention
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Summary
The book Xiangzheng focuses on the social competition both within and outside rural society today. Competition is an important driving force for social progress and an important source of social vitality; without competition, there would be no prosperity and affluence in China's rural society today. What kind of competitive situation has China's rural society faced since the 21st century, and what impact will competition bring to individual farmers, families, villages, cities, and even the entire Chinese society? Based on several years of collective fieldwork with the Central China rural research team, this book conducts a comprehensive study of this topic across five dimensions—rural marriage, family relations, northern and southern societies, village competition, and income structure—vividly presenting the internal mechanisms and logic of rural social change and providing highly valuable reference for decision-making on China's agriculture, rural areas, and farmers.
Editor's review
Xiangzheng uses “competition” as a key to understanding contemporary rural society, offering a perspective that is both concrete and penetrating. Drawing on years of collective fieldwork by the Central China rural research team, the author unfolds the study across five dimensions: rural marriage, family relations, northern and southern societies, village competition, and income structure. The book attends both to contests among people and among households within villages and to the structural tensions between rural and urban areas. Its value lies not in offering simple conclusions but in layer by layer revealing how competition affects individual farmers' choices, family strategies, village order, and even broader social mobility. For readers concerned with agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, this is a work that translates field experience into an analytical framework, suitable for policy researchers, sociology students and faculty, and grassroots practitioners. When reading, treat the five dimensions as five threads, compare them with rural experiences you know, and note how the author distills mechanisms from concrete phenomena, avoiding equating individual cases directly with universal conclusions.
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Students and faculty in sociology, anthropology, and related fields who need field cases and analytical frameworks for rural research
- Personnel engaged in research on agriculture, rural areas, and farmers and in grassroots governance who seek decision-making reference
- General readers concerned with urban-rural change and rural family issues who hope for a systematic understanding
- Readers interested in rural society in Central China who are willing to compare it with their own experience
Not a good fit for
- Casual readers looking for light rural stories or essays
- Readers concerned only with urban life issues and uninterested in rural society
- Operational-minded readers hoping for immediate policy solutions
Reading tips
- Read the introduction first to grasp the core thread of “competition,” then proceed chapter by chapter through the five dimensions.
- While reading, record specific cases under each dimension and try to summarize the mechanisms behind them.
- Keep comparative notes using rural observations familiar to you, distinguishing commonalities and differences.
- After finishing, revisit each chapter's conclusions to check whether the arguments are mutually supported by the field material.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 序： 经验研究需要想象力
- 研究缘起
- 农村婚姻
- 谁是婚姻挤压的对象
- “天价彩礼”的机制与逻辑
- 市场机会、婚姻成本与代际支持
- 东部何以产生“剩女”
- 农村婚姻稳定的条件是什么
- 农村婚姻稳定的三种类型
- 何以姻亲偏重
- 家庭关系
- 成都平原农村家庭关系的性质及其影响
- 抚养、教育与婚配：农村父代的责任
- 目标、劳动力配置与财产制度
- 家庭演进的三个阶段：政治、经济与情感
- 老年劳动力的市场机会
- 什么人才算是老人
- 老年人的精神负担
- 女儿养老的伦理构建
- 南北社会
- 政治、人情与强人
- 农村人情竞争的区域差异
- 南方村落中的懒汉
- 孝昌农村“分裂的宗族”
- 农村公事中家族代表的虚与实
- “乡贤”归根的难处
- 基层找谁做工作
- 村庄竞争
- 新乡贤的资源由谁来承接
- 面向年轻人的村庄竞争
- 信仰的分化
- 农民打麻将的三重境界
- 修路改变观念
- 时空压缩的农民分化
- 村庄竞争、资源调动与压力的承受者
- 收入结构
- 地租经济与农民工的社会融入
- 求解餐桌上的大量浪费现象
- 经济作物与农村中等收入水平
- 代际分工与农民家庭收入
- 农村的“收入断裂带”
- 农村的“中等收入线”
- 农民收入的“天花板效应”
- 东中西差异
FAQ
What exactly does “Xiangzheng” in this book refer to?
It refers to social competition both within and outside rural society today, including rural marriage, family relations, village-level competition, north-south social differences, and income structure. The author views these competitions as drivers of social vitality and prosperity while analyzing the multiple effects they bring to individual farmers, families, and villages.
Can I read it without a sociology background?
Yes. The book builds its analysis on fieldwork materials, and the language is not overly difficult. General readers can start with chapters close to daily life, such as marriage and family relations, then move on to village competition and income structure, gradually understanding the author's analytical approach.
Which regions does the research in the book cover?
According to the introduction, the research is based on years of collective fieldwork by the Central China rural research team and specifically discusses north-south social differences. Readers should note the field boundaries of specific conclusions and should not directly generalize observations from one region to all rural areas.
How does this book help policy research?
From the perspective of competition, the book presents the internal mechanisms and logic of rural social change, involving practical issues such as marriage, family, village order, and income structure. It can provide valuable empirical material and analytical perspectives for decision-making on agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, but it is not an operational manual.
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About the author
杨华
Author
Public information about Yang Hua is limited. Judging from the 14 works held in the collection, his writing and editorial work spans medicine, social science and literary appreciation, showing a notably interdisciplinary range. In medicine, he has addressed subjects such as facial nerve studies, head and neck anatomy and imaging, and the clinical use of MRI and X-ray, producing both specialized theoretical works and portable reference books for clinical practice as well as compilations of clinical experience. In social science, he focuses on rural Chinese society in the 21st century, discussing acquaintanceship ties and rural change. He has also written a literary study of the artistry of the Zuo Zhuan. Overall, his works combine professional substance with readability, serving medical teaching and clinical reference while also reaching general readers interested in rural China and classical literature.
