Bringing Agriculture Back In: The Central Place of Agrarian Change in Rural<scp>C</scp>hina Studies

Zhang, Qian Forrest; Oya, Carlos; Ye, Jingzhong

doi:10.1111/joac.12115

Cited by 70 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…The changes reflect the shifts in land policies and the different phases of socioeconomic development (Frelichova & Fanta, ). Drawing upon the available literature, land policies have dominated the influences in the changes in ESL use and are closely linked to such changes (Papanastasis et al, ; Q. F. Zhang, Oya, & Ye, ). Capitalization of land resources has been a crucial driver of economic development in the urbanization process in China.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of human activity in decreasing ecologically sound land use in China

et al. 2018

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Ecologically sound land (ESL) represents a meaningful geographical spatial unit that provides ecological goods and services at various scales. However, few studies focusing on national‐ or regional‐scale changes in ESL use and the degradation of the land ecosystem in China have been based on reliable and up‐to‐date land survey data. The study aimed to analyze the relationship between the changes in ESL use and human activities and regional policies, as well as land ecosystem degradation. The results indicated that land capitalization, resulting from rapid industrialization, urbanization, and the effects of regional land policies and large land projects, caused a clear decrease in grassland and wetland ecosystems, and an increase in forest ecosystem, varying in extent during different periods. Land ecosystem degradation, according to the decreased ecosystem service provision index (ESPI), was concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta, the southwestern regions, and the Inner Mongolia Plateau, where human activity was concentrated. From 2009 to 2015, such degraded land amounted to 9.51% of the Counties. The degradation in ESL use caused a decrease in the ecological goods and services provided by the ecosystems. Land ecosystem degradation resulting from the abandonment of natural grassland and farmland is a prominent and complex problem in China. Optimizing the regional spatial patterns of ESL use was critical for sustainable ecosystem management. Balancing compromises and synergies between providing ecological goods or socioeconomic benefits and ecological costs at a regional or national scale was found crucial for land policy making.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of human activity in decreasing ecologically sound land use in China

et al. 2018

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“…Changes in land‐use are closely linked to shifts in government policies (Gray & Lee, ; Papanastasis et al, ; Zhang et al, ). Since China initiated economic reforms and an Open Door policy in 1978, tremendous land‐use change has occurred across the country (Zhang et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land‐Use Change and its Effects in Charchan Oasis, Xinjiang, China

et al. 2016

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Changes in land use and land cover are known to impact ecosystem services and functions. In this study, land use characteristics were combined with global and China‐specific ecosystem coefficients to quantify land‐use and ecosystem service changes in Charchan Oasis. Results indicated that: (i) the total values of ecosystem services in Charchan Oasis were increased 8·4 M$ from 1972 to 2013; (ii) the aggregated ecosystem service values for water bodies, grasslands, forest lands, and barren lands were 98·90% of the total value for all land types; (iii) waste treatment, soil formation, biodiversity protection, and water supply were ecological functions with the highest service values, contributing approximately 65% of the total service values; and (iv) ecosystem service values estimated in this study were inelastic with respect to the value coefficients, therefore, the estimation results were believable. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…In addition to repoliticizing technology shifts, we also focus on specific people, land losses, and respatializations of village lands. To foster rural development, the central state projects a goal of productivist spaces that increase farmers' incomes, such as for cash crops, and environmental spaces that have increasingly come under state control, whether at township, county, or provincial levels (Yeh, ; Zhang, Oya, & Ye, ). Chen et al (, p. 85) point out that this enhanced state control of environmental spaces is justified in the name of “ecological security,” a term that encompasses environmental protection, clean energy generation, and the need for state control.…”

Section: Technologies As Vectors Of Social Projects and Drivers Of LImentioning

confidence: 99%

The disappearance of water buffalo from agrarian landscapes in Western China

Rousseau

Sturgeon

2018

Journal of Agrarian Change

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For centuries, water buffalo served important livelihood functions for ethnic minority farmers in Southwest China. Yet, over the past decade, buffalo ownership decreased dramatically in our research sites in Yunnan province. This transition occurred after state policies and projects excluded villagers from significant portions of their land. Increased state control over landscapes allowed the state to respatialize land uses in ways conducive to productivist and environmentalist logics, with farmers cultivating cash crops on limited production landscapes and state agencies taking over control of larger environmental landscapes. Buffalo are welcome in neither setting. Handai and Akha farmers have divergent perceptions on the outcomes of these technological shifts, with Handai beginning to question buffalo loss while Akha having contented to become “modern” farmers. In both cases, our analysis challenges the literatures on sustainability transitions and ecological modernization that posit apolitical and optimistic outcomes for farmers' adoption of “modern” and “green” technologies.

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Bringing Agriculture Back In: The Central Place of Agrarian Change in RuralChina Studies

Abstract: Since the mid-2000s, rural

Cited by 70 publications

References 48 publications

The role of human activity in decreasing ecologically sound land use in China

The role of human activity in decreasing ecologically sound land use in China

Land‐Use Change and its Effects in Charchan Oasis, Xinjiang, China

The disappearance of water buffalo from agrarian landscapes in Western China

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