The Changing Locality: Transplantation·Disintegration·Reconstruction

This paper attempts to answer this question:What is the process of locality during the rapid social transformation, which was derived from the agricultural civilization? The paper explained the process of locality with the theory of social transformation and social interaction, which was based on a migratory village with the qualitative research associated field work. The core meaning of locality is the relatonship between villagers with "soil" and "rural".As the large extension of locality, we focus on family awareness, interpersonal relationship, social order, village authority, festival and ritual.The turning point is the moment which large-scale of villages went out to the city for a better job. Before that, it is a self-sufficient life in countryside:farmers acquired basic means of production and subsistence, their lifes are limited among the the village, the soil is curdled and the village is closed. All of the above produced the original locality. As to family awareness, it is a flexible one. Horizontally, the family can be extended to the tribe, from the tribe to village, and expanded to far more larger ground. Vertically, it spreaded from the ancestors (parents) to ourselves, and then to our children and grandchildren. We are the objective part of the vertical array, when it went to interpersonal relationship, the village represented a differential male-dominated pattern which was found on male's consanguinity. Family played a decisive role in the countryside where male's tribe weighted heavily. The social order is the combination of custom and force, The core of custom is the remain of courtesy succeed from feudal era which do not kill human being. Those phenomenons called "bully" and "being bullied" was caused by governace through force. In the village authority, elders and village cadres were co-existed. During this period, Locality can be closely described as "original locality". As the state power extended to the grassroots, which highlighted the authority of village leaders. It is the rigid institution and the absence of a common market which caused the curdled soil and closed village. From the long period feudal agricultural policies to the pre-reform and openness limited population flow system. farmer were tightly manacled on the soil within the village. Individual initiative was suppressed, this formed an unequal involuntary order between the individual and society which was static under vicious mutual construction machinery, and the absence of market brought about the lose of development opportunities for the villagers.When the villagers went out for a better job from countryside to city, they did not truly incorportated into the city. There are still token boundaries inside the city which can be observed on body, career, residence, association, marriage between the immigrant works and city resident. They have to selectively transplant the locality into the urban life in order to survive in the city. According to the style which family members have being lived tegother for a year, it can be divided into three categories:"real family", "separated family", "menmoried family". The majority is the sceond one, but this type is "God-shaped scattered and dispersed" which showed comprehensive stabilty. They brought consanguinity into urban society, their career appear to certain regional characters. They remain the traditional festivals, like Spring Festival and Sweeping Tomb Festival. They carride on the rituals, including fertility, marriage, funeral, etc, only in this way can they obtained the value of life and the sense of belonging. Immigrant workers'locality in the city is a expression of self-identity confusing, their identity and career have been dissociated. This is reaction of passive self-isolation protection under the imperfect institution, because they were faced the system discrimination in their urban society. With the lack of educaiton, professional skills and career experience, they finded jobs on secondary labor market. The changing symbolic boundary is the children of institution and the market.Even though badly integrated into urban society, the migrant workers got rid of the restrict from soil and village. The relaitonship among villagers the soil and rural have being changed greatly, it was no long the curdled soil and closed village. the original locality have being vanished. It is a smaller family. Horizontally, family was reduced its size and increased its numbers. The importance of house have been rapidly dimilished, so to the concept of village community. Vertically, the sense of subject have been enhanced, they cherished the hard work and success. The "relative" of male kinship has became coexistance of "relative", "love", "interest". The last one played a far more, and even most important role in the differential patern. The most eminent feature is the increasing importance of marriage and career. Social order mixed constitutionality, capable management, local rules and force, which combined new concepts and old customs. Money and power went hand in hand in the village authority which stressed the hierarchy between wealth and power. It is the institution and market that reliefed peasant from the land. With the reform of rigid institution, the individual initiative push out. The relationship between individual and society enteren into the primary benign interactive stage. Immigrant workers were in the pendulum-type movement between urban and countryside. The market institutions were grown and became perfect. They acquired plenty of development opportunities. The original locality have died out during these process. As to the gradual reform, some aspects of locality have valished at all due to the result of inperfect institution and market, this caused the instability of family, the decline of old authority and piety, integrity and mutual aid, environmental damage as well.With the implementation of "people-oriented"and "harmonious society ", the Government will continues to change the irrational system toward the ideal one. At the same time, driven by urban-rural integration strategy, it will build a perfect, complete socialist market system. Individual initiative can be exerted at great degree under the good institution and market. This is a full-developed individual. Thus the individual and the society usherd in a harmonious stage. In this ideal situation, locality was under profound reconstruction, which the damaged and newed reconstructed locality can be improved. The reconstruction of locality contained two parts:renovation and construction. The former refered the renovation the unreasonable content to match the mordernization; the later mean that construct the vanlished but valuable substence in the imperfect institution and market. During the process of renovation locality, it contained to sides:differential patterns and gift ideas. there is a tension between differential pattern and the market economy:differential pattern hampered the development of market economy. Market economy undercut the foundation of differential pattern. we need the fairness and equity of market economy to disintegrated the particular and hierarchy of differential pattern. between the law rule and gift ideas, abandoned the privileges and man rule, creatively conversion the good aspect to construction spiritual civilization. Forever family, respecting elderly people, honesty and helpfully, heaven is the four part of locality construction. the leading role of the government and participation of social organization was needed during the process of locality reconstruction.The conclusion of this paper is that:as the large-scale immigrant workers went out to the city, locality have being profoundly changed under the presure of institution and market. This article want to prove two points:Firstly, it try to proved that the relationship among valliagers, soil and rural have being greatly changed under the institution and market. Tht original locality went through transform and presented a changing feature. This will challenge original static locality which was put forward by Professor Fei Xiaotong. Secondly, locality was still under the process of transplantion, disintegration and reconstruction. this will challenge the "tradition-modern" theory. This theory is a one-way analysis which accounted the continuous process from tradition to modern. This paper argues that the relationship among the villagers, soil and rural is under profound change under the pressure, and this change is continuous, dynamic, complex, convoluted, and stalemate. The relationship between villagers and soil is not a simple, one-way situation which was from direct income to indirect income, and then went vanished. The relationship between villagers and rural is not simple, one-way direction which was from the economic to the administrative then to the social relations. the complexity relationship of Villagers with the soil and rural determined the changing process of localiyt do not follow the single-way track of "tradition-modern" theory, but constantly undergo transplantation, disintegration, and reconstruction.