The central China school of rural studies (华中乡土派) recently completed a series of 16 books on “patterns of rural governance in China” (中国村治模式实证研究丛书), edited by He Xuefeng & published by Shandong People’s press in January 2009.
This series is partly modeled on Fei Xiaotong’s project on “the comparison of types” of Chinese villages, but it is organized around the central China school’s framework of “rural governance” (or “village governance”) & its “regional patterns.” The series consists of 15 village studies by different scholars (mainly grad students at the Center for Research on Rural Governance at Huazhong University of Science & Technology, a few more established scholars) & one collection of several shorter village studies by He Xuefeng. In all the series deals with 15 villages in 11 provinces, and, within the general framework of “rural governance,” it examines such issues as official & unofficial village organizations & decision-making & their relationship with the state, mechanisms of villager cooperation, the supply of public goods & services (water, roads, health care, schooling, etc.), varying & changing forms of land tenure, the transformation of familial structure & peasant values, welfare of the elderly, and the impact of labor migration & market forces.
By this summer I aim to write English & Chinese reviews of Wang Ximing’s book from this series, Village Community Governance on the Western Sichuan Plain: A Study of Jing Village, Luojiang County (川西平原的村社治理：四川罗江县井村调查). For now you can see an English translation of an article related to the book here, and a Chinese overview of the book here. (Also see the just-published English translation of another article by Wang Ximing here.)
By fall I aim to write English & Chinese reviews of the series as a whole, or at least something dealing with other books in the series. I would like to find one or two people to collaborate on this project. Each of us could choose a few books to read, & then we could write a review together. Contact me if you’re interested.
The Chinese introduction to the series is here.
See Chinese Sociology & Anthropology 41(1), fall 2008, for Alexander Day’s introduction about the central China school of rural studies & a translation of several related articles: Chen Baifeng’s article on Liwei village is related to the book he co-wrote for the series (number 14 below), He Xuefeng’s article is the first English text introducing the central China school’s theory of “rural governance” & its “regional patterns,” & the other three articles put this kind of research into the historical context of Chinese political studies & intellectual politics.
Below is the list of titles with my rough translation of them (please let me know if I made any mistakes):
1、《复杂社会的简约治理——关中毛王村调查》
作者：丁卫
The simple governance of a complex society: A study of Maowang village in Guanzhong
by Ding Wei
2、《川西平原的村社治理——四川罗江县井村调查》
作者：王习明
Village community governance on the western Sichuan plain: A study of Jing village, Luojiang county
by Wang Ximing
3、《走出祖荫——赣南村治模式研究》
作者：郭亮
Leaving the shadow of the ancestors: The southern Jiangxi pattern of rural governance
by Guo Liang
4、《积极分子治村——徽州村治模式研究》
作者：张世勇
Village rule by intellectuals: The Huizhou pattern of rural governance
by Zhang Shiyong
5、《涧村的圈子——一个客家村庄的村治模式》
作者：吕德文
The [social] circles of Jian village: A Hakka village’s pattern of rural governance
by Lv Dewen
6、《十字路口的小河村——苏北村治模式初探》
作者：骆建建
Xiaohe village at the crossroads: An initial exploration into the northern Jiangsu pattern of rural governance
by Luo Jianjian
7、《村将不村——鄂中村治模式研究》
作者：陈涛
The village will no longer be a village: The central Hubei pattern of rural governance
by Chen Tao
8、《豫北村治模式初探——以河南安阳洹村调查为基础》
作者：郭鹏群
An initial exploration into the northern Henan pattern of rural governance: A study of Heng village, Anyang prefecture
by Guo Pengqun
9、《转型之痛——赣中南路东村调查》
作者：王小军
The pain of transition: A study of Nanludong village in central Jiangxi
by Wang Xiaojun
10、《古村不古——浙西衢州古村调查》
作者：陈辉
The old village is not old: A study of Old Quzhou village in western Zhejiang
by Chen Hui
11、《绵延之维——湘南宗族性村落的意义世界》
作者：杨华
Lasting ties: The symbolic world of a lineage village in southern Hunan
by Yang Hua
12、《村庄发展的社会基础——一个豫东村庄的村治模式》
作者：刘洋
The social foundation of village development: Rural governance in a village in eastern Henan
by Liu Yang
13、《村治模式——若干案例研究》
作者：贺雪峰
Patterns of rural governance: Several case studies
by He Xuefeng
14、《农民生活及其价值世界——皖北李圩村调查》
作者：陈柏峰、郭俊霞
Peasant life & its value-world: A study of Liwei village in northern Anhui
by Chen Baifeng & Guo Junxia
15、《山村的彷徨——鄂西北村治模式研究》
作者：李德瑞
The wanderings of a mountain village: The northwestern Hubei pattern of rural governance
by Li Derui
16、《一个新型移民社区的村治模式——吉林枣子河村调查》
作者：李洪君、张小莉
Rural governance in a new-style migrant community: A study of Zaozihe village in Jilin
by Li Hongjun & Zhang Xiaoli