Modernizing Rural ChinaDaniel R. Kroth

ASIEN – Nr. 154/155 (2020) pp. 152–53

Freiburg, September 27–29, 2019

This year’s Modernizing Rural China workshop, organized by René Trappel, Elena Meyer-Clement, and Jesper Zeuthen, took place at Studienhaus Wiesneck in the Black Forest near Freiburg. This workshop, the second event organized by the Modernizing Rural China Research Network, sought to further explore the effects of state led rural modernization in a format that would allow for substantive feedback, productive discussion, and future collaboration. To this end, a diverse group of American, Asian, and European academics presented and discussed works relating to agrarian change, urbanization, and changes in state–society relations in a rapidly changing Chinese countryside. Paper presentations ranged from qualitative studies of political economy to thorough historically based investigations and in-progress theorizations based on recent fieldwork. The workshop consisted of eight paper presentations and discussion sessions in four thematically related panels. Each discussion session began with prepared feedback by a designated discussant, followed by an open floor discussion…