article
The peasant condition in Xinjiang
Journal of peasant studies • 25 (1) • Published In 1997 • Pages: 87-112
By: Bellér-Hann, Ildikó.
Abstract
This is a study of the economic changes in post-liberation southern Xinjiang. The initial period of collectivization—a system with no property rights, corvée labor, and limited control over the harvest—put a feudal-like grip on Uyghur peasants. In the reform era that began in the early 1980s, peasants were free to hire labor, access land other than that allocated by the collective, and engage in non-agricultural activities. Nevertheless, the state continued to set quotas for household agricultural production, stipulating what to grow (cotton and wheat) and the cultivation methods employed, such as what seed varieties, pesticides and farming equipment to use. Additionally, peasants still were forced to do unpaid communal work on infrastructure projects. The author describes how the reforms are enforced by local cadres of the Communist Party, and discusses the dual authorities of state and religion, where they overlap and reinforce each other, and where they come into conflict, such as in family planning.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2023
- Region
- Asia
- Sub Region
- Central Asia
- Document Type
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Ian Skoggard; 2014
- Field Date
- 1996
- Coverage Date
- 1980-1996
- Coverage Place
- Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China
- Notes
- Ildikó Bellér-Hann
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-112)
- LCCN
- 75642680
- LCSH
- Uighur (Turkic people)