The role of collective mobilization in the divergent performance of the rural economies of China and India (1950-2005)

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2157408
AutoresBurak Gürel (0000-0002-1666-8748, Department of Sociology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey, autor de correspondencia)
Año2019
Volumen46
Número5
Páginas1021-1046
Fecha de publicación2019-07-29
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Journal of Peasant Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0306-6150 • E-ISSN: 1743-9361
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03066150.2018.1434773
OpenAlexW2790319384
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas68

This paper argues that the divergent performance of the rural economies of China and India after 1950 was a product of the different capabilities of the Chinese and Indian governments to mobilize the labor force and financial resources of the rural population. By mobilizing unpaid labor and the financial resources of the villagers through mediation by the collectives (before 1984) and local administrations (from 1984 to the abolition of agricultural taxation and compulsory rural labor mobilization in 2006), the Chinese state developed rural infrastructure and the quality of the labor force at a pace and geographical scope that was far beyond its limited fiscal capacity. Efforts by the Indian state to establish rural organizations with similar mobilization capabilities failed due to the effective opposition of well-entrenched political and economic interests in the countryside. Unable to mobilize the labor and financial resources of the villagers, the Indian government relied primarily on its limited fiscal resources, which produced a much slower development of physical infrastructure and labor force quality. These are the primary reasons why China's rural economy developed much more rapidly than India's, which contributed significantly to the divergence of their national economies in the post-1950 era

China · Development economics · Economic geography · Economic system · Economics · Economy · Mobilization · Political science · Politics · Social mobilization · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Indian Economic and Social Development · Social and Economic Development in India