Changing Rurality in Contemporary China: Double Commodification of the Countryside
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Date
2024-01-09
Authors
Wu, Shuxi
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
This thesis examines contemporary rural transformations in China. I suggest that a different spatial relationship among production, reproduction, and consumption is in the making, grafted
onto the urban-rural divide. A different urban-rural relationship is also in the making, shaped by
changing divisions and integrations of labor that go into production, reproduction, and
consumption. I argue that these two processes are occurring through a double commodification of
the countryside, which produces what I call “rural commodity” and “rural-as-commodity”. “Rural
commodity” refers to the ways in which products of rural labor are absorbed into urban-centered
accumulation processes. “Rural-as-commodity” refers to how rurality itself has become an object
of desire and exchange. These two forms of commodity collaborate to transform the urban-rural
division of labor in China to facilitate accumulation. I focus specifically on rural tourism and
media representations of new rurality to illustrate how these two forms of commodification
converge.
Description
Keywords
Agrarian Studies, China, Media Studies, Political Economy, Rural Development, Variety Show