The Research on the Path of Rural Bank’s Transformation Based on Bourdieu*’s Practice Theory: A Case Study of Wuwei Rural Bank in China

Abstract

More than 1000 Chinese rural banks' asset size exceeded trillion in 2015, but they have problems in low operating efficiency, information asymmetry between rural banks and villagers, poor public trust, insufficient absorption capacity and low social awareness. Should rural banks still stick to the rural areas? What's the way to develop the rural financial market at present? With Bourdieu's practice theory, this paper analyses the transformation practice of "the Bank-Government miaxture" model of the Wuwei Rural Bank in China. The Wuwei Rural Bank plants habitus, field and capital (mainly symbolic capital and social capital) into the transformation practice. This paper benefits from a particular ethnography enriched by the oral reviews and engaged observations in two years of fieldwork. Thirty-four depth interviews were conducted, involving the Wuwei Rural Bank's staffs, the mayors of 21 towns, convenience stores staffs, school principals, clinic employees and many villagers. Analysing the capital and changing the habitus of the villagers makes the transformation successful. It gives a new perspective for the path of rural bank's transformation.