The Comments Upon Consequence Of Expression Of Peasant Protest Action In Contemporary China

Contemporary Chinese peasant protest, especially during the period of Post-Agricultural Tax, just displays varieties types of activities either expressing their substantial need or demonstrating their civil right aspects under the double circumstance of state-building and market's invading. The academic groups have some discussion upon the origin, mobilization, process and countermeasures of peasant protest. However, the consequence of protest has been relatively studied not enough. And this scarcity may to a certain extent restrict the evaluation of the expression of popular action and the opinions and measures during the reaction process. Therefore, studying consequence of peasant protest, both have considerable value at the theoretical level and the practical one. This paper just begins from the relatively weak aspect so as to get some progress in defining and explaining the consequence of peasant protest.In accordance with the principle of"Theoretical Sampling", this paper has selected four cases respectively in eastern, central and western provinces of China since the nineties 20th century. The empirical materials are all from the author's local fieldwork. Ways of interviews, observation and literature were be used in the date collection, and comparative case study method in the analysis of them, specifically speaking, that contains two steps, to reveal the total"process-event"by narrative method in describing the protest cases , and using"mechanism-process"method in explaining the consequence of certain protest. From the deep dissection and comparative analysis of the four cases, the paper's main points are listed as follows.Firstly, we view the peasant protest as a kind of reverse movement. Specifically, in the political background of current"development-building"by local governments. Peasant protest s clearly demonstrate as a type of reverse movement under the double pressure from invasion of market capital and state's suppression. Various expression of reverse movements often formulate the interaction politics between peasants and state.Secondly, by examining a two-dimensional matrix, that is the extend of settlement of peasant protest and that of change in the state's governance, we can distinguish four categories of consequence, they are"win-win","non-expected harvest","balance retrieve"and"defeat". Such an interactive division, is not only faithful to the important features and classical definition of the contentious politics, but also relatively in line with the characteristics of the"strong state-weak society"relationship during the transition times, and it can realize an inspection including both the direct effect and the indirect ones.Thirdly, based on the empirical material and the way of"mechanism-process", we can find that the"win-win"result may comes from mechanisms of"elite breakthrough","strategic violence","spread"and"recognized the legitimacy"etc."Non-expected harvest"may be produced by the mechanisms of"critical intervention","embedded link","selective cutting"and"strategic violence"etc."Temporary adjustment of public opinion","cutting","strategic violence"may lead to"balance retrieve",and"defeat"may be from those of"withdrawal of public opinion","suppressing","routine transfer"and"non-strategic violence"etc.Fourthly, to compensate the disadvantage of mechanism explanation, through the polymerization of mechanisms, this paper upholds that certain mechanism is formed in the process of interaction, this way of interpretation can not be divorced from specific subject and action space. From the comparative analysis of four cases, the paper finally proposes an analytical framework of"space-action-mechanism"in the analysis of protest consequence.In short, the paper insists that the consequence of expression of contemporary Chinese peasant protest is just the product of there spatial interaction among the bottom political society, the middle public sphere and the national politics, and also is the product of a series of intermediate mechanism's interaction. These interaction mechanism are not static, but change frequently in the practice of contentious politics, even an accidental power of mechanism may play a decisive role in the protest consequence. These intermediate mechanisms are more like a platter mold on a whole, in the disorder theater of protest this platter mold displays different combinations of order and chains, which shows a mix of changes. Complex and changing mechanisms are linked closely with different types of space and their actions, therefore,"action-space-mechanism"can be an important framework in the analysis of consequence of peasant protest.