The State And The Individual Peasant: Power Technologies And Struggle Strategies

The relationship between state and peasants is an enduring topic which is more reflected in the relationship between rural grassroots governments that is the end of the state administrative sequence and peasants. The everyday life of local society is the stage where rural grassroots governments on behalf of the state interact with peasants.Many traditional studies on the relationship between grassroots governments and peasants focus on the relationship between the state and peasants collective as abstract existing, while neglect the relationship between grassroots governments and individual peasant. As a result, this article focuses on the relationship between grassroots governments and individual peasant how to practice exactly in everyday life. With the perspective of governing children born outside the state plan in family planning, this article focuses on the relationship between state and individual peasant. The reason why the author selects family planning for research perspective bases on the rising importance of family planning work in the work of grassroots governments, and family planning work involves the whole party and government departments, and the non-publicity and the urgency of family planning.On the basis of literature review,the author finds that the previous studies take the Chinese state power construction as the main line, and take the pattern of"state-society"as the framework, which impose great restrictions on the depth and the further development of the study of the relationship between state and individual peasant. As the a result, this article will try to quit the framework of"state-society", and will start from everyday life, and will pay attention to flowing, vivid, fragmentary, full of"secrets"in tendency power relationship between humble, individual peasant and grassroots governments on governing children born outside the state plan in family planning from a microcosmic aspect, so that we can acquire the complicated and delicate relationship between state and individual peasant.This article takes power as the breakthrough point through the analysis of the relationship of power between rural grassroots and individual peasant, focusing on the relation between state and peasants. In the analysis of the relationship of the power, micro power of Foucault and"weapons of the weak"and"hidden transcript"of Scott are used and revised to adjust to China's experience reality. At last, this article defines the power: first, the power is a kind of relationship and only in this relationship we could find the liquidity, variability, confidentiality and deep operational logic behind; secondly, the power only show its real face in the"events"in daily life where reflects the trace of power operation more easily, so the"events"are one kind of part of daily life; last, when analyzing power, if we only focus on the surface of power operation, we might get the conclusion that adapts to the discourse of pan-moralism and pan-ideologization, instead, neglects the undercurrents of calm water which is the essence of the analysis of power.On the basis of criticizing the research strategy of"structure-institution", this article uses the research strategy of"course-event analysis"from Professor Sun Liping. As a kind of research strategy,"course-event analysis"is mainly used to research the practical state of state and peasants and it tries getting rid of the analysis of structure and institution, grasping the true interaction through events and course. The research strategy of"course-event analysis"is our good method to see the dynamic and flowing relationship between state and individual peasant clearly, and uprooted the"secret relations".Firstly, this reanalyzes classic image about the peasant, and indicates that the traditional view about peasants is a kind of view with pan-ideologization which hinders scholars with latent and blink preset value that already exists from finding the secrets and paradoxes of social facts, hoodwinking scholars'insight. So, this article holds the point that peasant image should be recognized in the specific situation, and for one thing we should find poor side about peasants, for another, we should not neglect the hateful side.State governs children born outside the state plan in family planning to achieve the goal by a series of formal and informal power technologies which involve legal texts made layer by layer, dissemination in the village, posted blacklist, routine pregnancy test, and"illegal detentions","involving others in a criminal case","confiscation"and so on. In this course we could find that state power combines with tough power and soft power, economic power and practical power, displayed power and intimidated power, staring power and cathartic power that weaves a tight power network. However, no matter how this power network is tight peasants always discover its weaknesses, which is peasants'wisdom. Peasants have endless struggle strategies that involve the art of fleeing, fake divorce, pregnant before marriage, manipulating leaks in the institution ingeniously, bribery, asking for help from journalist, inviting cadre of family planning to banquet held by the peasant who succeeds to have a child out of family planning and the subculture that hangs in the village. And these struggle strategies try not to conflict with the government face to face, and they try to reduce illegal cost, sustain well balance, all reflect peasants'survival wisdom and sly shadows.The purpose of narrative is to elaborate the significance of events. This article distills the main points. Firstly, this article compares the struggle of individual peasant with the struggle of peasants; secondly, this article argues that the struggle of individual peasant will produce conglomeration effect, which exerts effect like the way of constant dripping wears the stone on governance result in countryside through the way of"quiet encroachment". As a result, our country has to pay for the consequence of children born outside the state plan in family planning; next, the struggle of individual results in the continuation of"the state power construction". In order to govern children born outside the state plan in family planning, grassroots governments invest considerable manpower and resources, which is the so-called state"involution"of Prasenjit Duara in new period; at last, in part, it is beyond the dichotomy of"state-society". After the researching, we find that the tentacle of state power is retractable reasonably. While it could extend or reduce to match the demands of state from basic level society, basic level society could accept and resist state power in a balanced manner. So, the boundary of state and society is obscure, flowing. Complicated social reality makes the powers of the state show different operational logic in different circumstances, while peasants have their unique response to different operational style of powers. State logic and peasants'logic are both mutual confluence and mutual struggle.