Understanding China’s Urban Transformation from A Micro-Historical Perspective

Abstract

China’s urban transformation is about how a segregated, village-based society, which were deeply embedded in a mixture of institutions combining socialist collectivism and an ancient lineage tradition, have moved away from its historical constraints to establish entirely new institutions that reflect today’s urban, market-oriented society. In this study, we seek to illustrate how a micro-historical analysis of the urban transition of rural villages can advance our understanding of the institutional complexities of such an unprecedented process of urbanization and their impact on reshaping the landscapes of local governance. By a micro-historical framework, we emphasize the need for an in-depth analysis of how local actors including the local state, village cadres and villagers have interacted with both formal and informal institutions to shape the daily practice of village governance. Drawing from our intensive field research in some urbanizing villages of Guangzhou and Beijing over the past decade, we seek in this study to address two main questions about field research as a method for understanding China’s urban transformation. First, how have we positioned ourselves in relation to our case studies? Second, how have we dealt with the challenges arising from the regional and temporal disparities in relation to China’s urbanization? Research findings of this presentation come from a research grant from (Project No. PolyU 25203215) the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China and an internal grant from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Project No. PolyU 152505).