Studies of rural poverty and development in western China, despite the topic's urgency and importance, are lacking. Much of this gap has been filled by Chinese scholarship that is rarely translated into English, limiting access outside of China to specialists. Further, translation is difficult, and even accurate translations often sound stilted. Moreover, to the westerner, this scholarship sometimes seems to be overly sanguine and based on scant field knowledge, to incorporate little more than a catalogue of easily-accessible descriptive statistics with little analysis, or to improvise impractical ivory tower recommendations.
Happily, Zheng Yisheng's edited volume Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development in Rural China generally avoids these pitfalls, providing a readable (despite a few typos) and interesting set of perspectives on development, poverty, and the environment in western China (the term “Western China,” included in the original title, is omitted in this translated volume). Most chapters provide a useful historical context and incisive analysis, and apply expert knowledge and fieldwork. The contributors' arguments are so diverse that a concluding chapter from the editor analyzing these positions through the lens of the book's themes would have contributed even more.
In the editor's impressive preface, Zheng Yisheng, the director of the Center for the Environment and Development in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), sets the stage by introducing the volume's central themes, including the conflicts between economic development and environmental degradation, the collusion between local political elites and outside wealthy actors to the detriment of local residents, and the hazards of applying models from the coast to far more diverse and complex contexts in western China.
These ideas are explored, to a greater or lesser extent, in subsequent chapters, starting with broad overviews from three distinct perspectives. In Chapter 1, Lin Ling and Liu Shiqing, academics from the Sichuan Provincial Academy of Social Science, usefully review history and China's national policies regarding development in its western region, before analyzing a number of challenges, including that of generating a more equitable form of economic growth and the mismatch between the provision of public services and the often counterproductive funding mechanisms for local governments. Especially insightful is their argument that eastern China's advantage has been based as much on policy support as it has on natural endowments or superior leadership. Li Zhou of CASS provides in chapter 2 a more mainstream economic perspective on development in western China; yet his analysis—in its optimism about local government and business, and in adopting traditional economic measures and perspectives—falls into some of the analytical pitfalls that the editor warned of in his preface. By contrast, in chapter 3 sociologist Wang Xiaoyi wields his palpably intimate knowledge of rural life in western (especially northwestern) China to argue that, although others observe a problem of underdevelopment existing in areas where people have lived for centuries, we should instead see economic diversity. His application of Karl Polanyi's theories of economic development to understand the destructive transformation from complex relations to market relations in western China is particularly convincing.
The remaining six chapters focus on specific development issues in western China. In chapter 4, environmentalist Ma Jun leverages his years of leadership in the non-government sector to document and vividly exemplify the contradictions between the development of hydropower and the environment in southwestern China. He blames the generation of hydroelectricity for increasing, not substituting for, the use of coal, and for encouraging investment in inefficient and highly polluting energy-intensive industries in southwest China. In chapter 5, Han Wei of the Sichuan Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, summarizes the shift from development-based poverty reduction to a more participatory approach, applauding the ironically state-led, top-down participatory approach as “a landmark achievement” (p. 177). While he supports this argument by documenting China's formal policies and providing some anecdotal evidence, a more systematic analysis of the policy's impact would have strengthened his contention. His suggestion that participatory poverty reduction can work hand in hand with rural democracy, for example, should also address the extensive criticism of rural grassroots democracy as it has been practiced in China. Similarly, in chapter 6 Li Zhou efficiently summarizes the poverty alleviation policies applied to western China and compiles charts of statistics showing progress during the reform period. However, the chapter omits the impact of the Hu Jintao-era rural-based programs and seems to consider few of the central issues raised by the editor.
In chapter 7, Tsinghua University ecologist Yu Changqing's engaging summary of the diverse ecology of Western China and the threats to it includes a refreshingly balanced analysis of China's approach to protecting the western ecological balance. Zhang Shiqiu and An Shumin, respectively of Peking University and Renmin University, argue in chapter 8 that expanding, deepening, and reforming the policy of compensating western residents and local governments for ecological protection would provide a way to balance development and poverty reduction. In addition to a providing an impartial analysis of the largest scale programs of this kind in China, the conversion of farmland to forests, the authors provide a detailed proposal modifying and extending this approach. Finally, scholars Ren Xiaodong, Huang Xiao, and Cai Kui, all based in southwestern China, apply contemporary gender theories to criticize China's policies and performance in environmental protection and argue persuasively that integrating a gendered approach throughout the policy process is essential for China to achieve a sustainable form of development in western China.
Overall, this volume will be useful for those seeking an overview on development and poverty in China, as well as China specialists. Given the enhanced quality of scholarship generated in China, western scholars—both China watchers and development experts alike—will benefit from the translation of more such research.
