The Role Of Local Elites:Restructuring Social Order And Facilitating Modernization

Rural areas in contemporary China are still desperate for modernization.Provincial government shows its limits as pure investment fails to afford a vast number of villages.In the meanwhile,scholars criticize village construction under external companies for the loss of rurality.A bottom-up approach is needed.Another challenge is that rural social order is prone to break down during modernization.To achieve the national prospect of rural revitalization,villages must find a way that facilitates modernization and restructures social order at the same time.In this thesis,I speculate that local elites can devote to it.The hypothesis that local elites can facilitate modernization as well as restructure social order is proposed in the third chapter,based on literature review on theoretical research,historical inspirations and contemporary rural practice.In theory,there are two ways to restructure social order:up-bottom and bottom-up.Elites are people with higher social status,thence they are prone to get authority in social networks.Also,they are more accessible to formal power.Therefore,elites have the potential to restructure social order but elite capture can also happen.In history,rural elites connect the central government and the rural society.The traditional closed rural society and Confucian culture prevent elite capture to a large extent.However,the cultural identity loses somehow.In contemporary rural practice and relevant studies,scholars usually admit that guided by local elites can bring modernization and repair social networks,while they also show worries about corruption and elite capture.This thesis examines the speculation based on fieldwork in Bizhou village.Located in Fujian province,Bizhou have experienced rapid growth under guidance of local elites.Several elites established an organization called Bizhou Promotion Association and incorporated nearly 500 people.They elected the village committee director and participate in management of daily rural affairs.The Elite Organization-Agent-Government pattern facilitates modernization of Bizhou Village.Besides,local elites repair social relationship and resume cultural festivals to restructure social order.Bizhou pattern shows its advancement compared with other elite driven rural development.Elites' governance performance gains stability through organization and institutional designs,rather than rely on personal quality.Based on observation of Bizhou pattern,this thesis also speculates a potential mode of local elites driven rural development.Elites restructure social order through organization and the rural society cooperates with the government through Elite Organization-Agent-Government pattern.Elites organization and the local government supervise each other as a supplement of accountability.In addition,through discussion on the high efficiency and informality of the elite governance practice,this thesis develops idea of rural democracy.Negating the ultimate value of democracy,the most important thing at this stage is to find the path to "good governance" in the countryside.From this criterion,the elite governance is a creation in western-style democracy and Chinese traditional society.Besides,the elite governance proves that the traditional rural social relations can still maintain vitality in the modern countryside,which may be the direction of the rural social order.The whole thesis comprises about 51000 words,29 charts and pictures.