Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T07:04:17.979Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Suing the State: Relative Deprivation and Peasants’ Resistance in Land Expropriation in China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 August 2022

Shenghua Lu ,
Xiang Zhou ,
Yuting Yao  and
Hui Wang
Shenghua Lu
Affiliation:
Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. Email: lushenghua@zju.edu.cn.
Xiang Zhou
Affiliation:
Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. Email: zhouxiang6624@163.com.
Yuting Yao
Affiliation:
Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. Email: yutingyao@zju.edu.cn.
Hui Wang*
Affiliation:
Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
*
Email: wanghuidn@zju.edu.cn (corresponding author).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Land expropriation, where peasants’ property rights are encroached by the state, has been recognized as a primary source of social dissension in rural China. Since the end of the last century, the Administrative Litigation Law (ALL) has provided people with a legal weapon to defend themselves against violations by state power. Drawing on the theory of relative deprivation, this paper proposes that peasants are more likely to sue the state when they feel deprived. To examine this hypothesis, we first present a case study to depict the causal process and then use quantitative research to improve the external validity of our findings. We created a novel and unique database of prefecture-level administrative litigations and relative deprivation for Poisson regression analysis. The quantitative results prove that the more peasants feel relatively deprived, the more likely they are to sue the state. Furthermore, the positive effect of relative deprivation on administrative litigations has become more significant over time, implying peasants’ growing awareness of legal resistance. This paper concludes that a critical step towards eliminating social inequity and maintaining social stability in rural China is to reduce the relative deprivation of peasants by, for example, allowing them to share in land value appreciation in the process of urbanization.

摘要

摘要

由于在征地的过程中农民丧失了对土地的使用权，因此土地征收成为了中国农村社会纠纷的一个重要来源。自上世纪末以来，《行政诉讼法》为民众提供了应对国家权力侵犯的法律武器。借鉴相对剥夺理论，本文提出假说：当农民感到被剥夺时，他们更有可能起诉政府。为了检验这一假说，我们首先通过案例分析描述因果过程，然后通过定量研究提高其外部效度。基于由行政诉讼案件和相对剥夺感指标构建而成的数据库，我们利用泊松回归模型对假说进行检验。回归结果表明，农民相对剥夺感程度越高，该城市关于征地的行政诉讼案件越多。此外，随着时间的推移，相对剥夺对行政诉讼的正向影响越来越显著，这意味着农民的法律意识日益增强。本文的结论是，降低农民的相对剥夺感是减小社会不平等、维护中国农村社会稳定的关键步骤。允许农民在城市化过程中分享土地增值收益将是其中的关键举措。

Keywords

relative deprivationland expropriationadministrative litigationresistancesocial stabilityChina相对剥夺土地征收行政诉讼反抗社会稳定中国
Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 251 , September 2022 , pp. 798 - 821
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of SOAS University of London

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bernstein, Lisa. 1992. “Opting out of the legal system: extralegal contractual relations in the diamond industry.” The Journal of Legal Studies 21(1), 115–157.10.1086/467902CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolino, Mark C., and Turnley, William H.. 2009. “Relative deprivation among employees in lower-quality leader-member exchange relationships.” The Leadership Quarterly 20(3), 276–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brockmann, Hilke, Delhey, Jan, Welzel, Christian and Yuan, Hao. 2009. “The China puzzle: falling happiness in a rising economy.” Journal of Happiness Studies 10(4), 387–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, David. 2004. “Why independence? The instrumental and ideological dimensions of nationalism.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 45(3–4), 277–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brush, Stephen G. 1996. “Dynamics of theory change in the social sciences: relative deprivation and collective violence.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 40(4), 523–545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, Xi. 2012. Social Protest and Contentious Authoritarianism in China. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Chuang, Julia. 2014. “China's rural land politics: bureaucratic absorption and the muting of rightful resistance.” The China Quarterly 219, 649–669.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D'Ambrosio, Conchita, and Frick, Joachim R.. 2007. “Income satisfaction and relative deprivation: an empirical link.” Social Indicators Research 81(3), 497–519.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ding, Chengri. 2007. “Policy and praxis of land acquisition in China.” Land Use Policy 24(1), 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duclos, Jean–Yves, and Grégoire, Phillipe. 2002. “Absolute and relative deprivation and the measurement of poverty.” Review of Income and Wealth 48(4), 471–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellickson, Robert C. 1994. Order without Law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Fu, Diana, and Distelhorst, Greg. 2018. “Grassroots participation and repression under Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping.” The China Journal 79(1), 100–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gurney, Joan Neff, and Tierney, Kathleen J. 1982. “Relative deprivation and social movements: a critical look at twenty years of theory and research.” The Sociological Quarterly 23(1), 33–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gurr, Ted Robert. 1968. “A causal model of civil strife: a comparative analysis using new indices.” American Political Science Review 62(4), 1104–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gurr, Ted Robert, and Duvall, Raymond. 1973. “Civil conflict in the 1960s: a reciprocal theoretical system with parameter estimates.” Comparative Political Studies 6(2), 135–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
He, Shenjing, Liu, Yuting, Webster, Chris and Wu, Fulong. 2009. “Property rights redistribution, entitlement failure and the impoverishment of landless farmers in China.” Urban studies 46(9), 1925–49.Google Scholar
Hui, Eddie Chi Man, Bao, Haijun and Zhang, Xiaoling. 2013. “The policy and praxis of compensation for land expropriations in China: an appraisal from the perspective of social exclusion.” Land Use Policy 32, 309–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiang, Junyan, Meng, Tianguang and Zhang, Qing. 2019. “From internet to social safety net: the policy consequences of online participation in China.” Governance 32(3), 531–546.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, Gary, Keohane, Robert O. and Verba, Sidney. 1994. Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larbi, Wordsworth Odame, Antwi, Adarkwah and Olomolaiye, Paul. 2004. “Compulsory land acquisition in Ghana – policy and praxis.” Land Use Policy 21(2), 115–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, Hongbo, Li, Bolin and Li, Sumin. 2013. “Governance mechanism on land-expropriation conflicts in the minorities areas of western China.” China Land Science 27(3), 17–23.Google Scholar
Li, Ji. 2013. “Suing the leviathan – an empirical analysis of the changing rate of administrative litigation in China.” Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 10(4), 815–846.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lian, Hongping, Glendinning, Anthony and Yin, Bo. 2016. “The issue of ‘land-lost’ farmers in the People's Republic of China: reasons for discontent, actions and claims to legitimacy.” Journal of Contemporary China 25(101), 718–730.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liebman, Benjamin L. 2011. “The media and the courts: towards competitive supervision?” The China Quarterly 208, 833–850.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liebman, Benjamin L., Roberts, Margaret E., Stern, Rachel E. and Wang, Alice Z.. 2020. “Mass digitization of Chinese court decisions: how to use text as data in the field of Chinese law.” Journal of Law and Courts 8(2), 177–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, George C.S., and Ho, Samuel P.S.. 2005. “The state, land system, and land development processes in contemporary China.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 95(2), 411–436.10.1111/j.1467-8306.2005.00467.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, Jianwen, and Sun, Mengxin. 2014. “The occurrence of group events regarding rural land expropriation and its governance.” Journal of Public Management 11(2), 101–114.Google Scholar
Lu, Shenghua, and Wang, Hui. 2019. “Distributive politics in China: regional favouritism and expansion of construction land.” Urban Studies 57(8), 1600–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, Shenghua, Yao, Yuting and Wang, Hui. 2020. “Peasants’ petitions in land expropriation: big data analysis based on local leadership message.” Issues in Agricultural Economy 31(7), 58–68.Google Scholar
Lull, James. 2013. China Turned on: Television, Reform and Resistance. Abingdon: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mangyo, Eiji, and Park, Albert. 2011. “Relative deprivation and health: which reference groups matter?” Journal of Human Resources 46(3), 459–481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michelson, Ethan. 2008. “Justice from above or below? Popular strategies for resolving grievances in rural China.” The China Quarterly 193, 43–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minzner, Carl. 2011. “China's turn against law.” American Journal of Comparative Law 59(4), 935–984.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moyo, Sam. 2005. “Land and natural resource redistribution in Zimbabwe: access, equity and conflict.” African and Asian Studies 4(1–2), 187–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Brien, Kevin J. 1996. “Rightful resistance.” World Politics 49(1), 31–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Brien, Kevin J., and Li, Lianjiang. 2004. “Suing the local state: administrative litigation in rural China.” The China Journal 51, 75–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pei, Minxin. 1997. “Citizens v. mandarins: administrative litigation in China.” The China Quarterly 152, 832–862.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pils, Eva. 2016. “Assessing evictions and expropriations in China: efficiency, credibility and rights.” Land Use Policy 58, 437–444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potter, Pitman B. 2005. The Chinese Legal System: Globalization and Local Legal Culture. Abingdon: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prosterman, Roy L., and Hanstad, Timothy M.. 1999. Legal Impediments to Effective Rural Land Relations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: A Comparative Perspective. Washington, DC: World Bank Publications.Google Scholar
Qian, Zhonghao, and Qu, Futian. 2004. “The system of land expropriation in China: reflection and reform.” China Land Science 18(5), 5–11.Google Scholar
Qian, Zhu. 2015. “Land acquisition compensation in post-reform China: evolution, structure and challenges in Hangzhou.” Land Use Policy 46, 250–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siahpush, Mohammad, Borland, Ron, Taylor, Janet, Singh, Gopal, Ansari, Zahid and Serraglio, Adrian. 2006. “The association of smoking with perception of income inequality, relative material well-being, and social capital.” Social Science and Medicine 63(11), 2801–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, Heather J., and Pettigrew, Thomas F.. 2015. “Advances in relative deprivation theory and research.” Social Justice Research 28(1), 1–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Heather J., Pettigrew, Thomas F., Pippin, Gina M. and Bialosiewicz, Silvana. 2012. “Relative deprivation: a theoretical and meta-analytic review.” Personality and Social Psychology Review 16(3), 203–232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Song, Yanan, Wang, Mark Yaolin and Lei, Xiaoting. 2016. “Following the money: corruption, conflict, and the winners and losers of suburban land acquisition in China.” Geographical Research 54(1), 86–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stern, Rachel E. 2010. “On the frontlines: making decisions in Chinese civil environmental lawsuits.” Law and Policy 32(1), 79–103.Google Scholar
Samuel A., Stouffer, Suchman, Edward A., Devinney, Leland C., Star, Shirley A. and Williams, Robin M. Jr. 1949. The American Soldier: Adjustment during Army Life (Volume I). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Tan, Rong. 2006. “The impact of China's three-sector land market system on farmland conversion and changes in social welfare.” In Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Agricultural Modernization and 8th European Conference on Agriculture and Rural Development in China, Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province, China, 31 August–2 September.Google Scholar
Walker, Iain, and Smith, Heather J.. 2002. Relative Deprivation: Specification, Development, and Integration. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wang, Hui, and Lu, Shenghua. 2019. “From local government-led to collaborative governance: the changing role of local governments in urbanization.” In Yu, Jianxing and Guo, Sujian (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Local Governance in Contemporary China. Singapore: Springer, 589–615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yep, Ray. 2013. “Containing land grabs: a misguided response to rural conflicts over land.” Journal of Contemporary China 22(80), 273–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Qinghua. 2004. Operational Practice of China's Land Law. Beijing: Law Press China.Google Scholar
Zhang, Shuwei, Wang, Erping and Chen, Yiwen. 2011. “Relative deprivation based on occupation: an effective predictor of Chinese life satisfaction.” Asian Journal of Social Psychology 14(2), 148–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhao, Bo. 2009. “Land expropriation, protest, and impunity in rural China.” Focaal 2009(54), 97–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhu, Keliang, and Prosterman, Roy. 2007. “Securing land rights for Chinese farmers: a leap forward for stability and growth.” Cato Institute, Development Policy Analysis Series (3), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1066812.Google Scholar
Andreas, Zick, van Dick, Rolf and Pettigrew, Thomas. 2008. “Relative deprivation and intergroup prejudice.” Journal of Social Issues 64(2), 385–401.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Lu et al. supplementary material

Appendix

Download Lu et al. supplementary material(File)
File 67.2 KB