{"product_id":"how-the-farmers-changed-china-power-of-the-people-transitions-asia-asian-america-9780813326825","title":"How The Farmers Changed China: Power Of The People (Transitions : Asia \u0026 Asian America)","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn this original and provocative book  Kate Zhou argues that Chinese farmerswho comprise one-fifth of the worlds populationhave been the driving force behind their countrys phenomenal economic growth and social change over the past fifteen years. Guided by their own interests rather than by directives from Beijing  farmers have restored family autonomy in farming  created new markets  established rural industries that now generate over half of Chinas industrial production  migrated to cities despite rigid governmental controls  shaped their own family-size policy  and redefined the role of women.Drawing on rich primary source material and her own years of experience in the countryside  the author focuses on the farmers initiatives and the stories of ordinary people who collectively have played a central role in the economic upsurge. She takes issue with most current interpretations  which credit Chinas economic success almost entirely to reforms put in place by the Chinese leadership. Indeed  Zhou argues that the farmers were effective precisely because their movement was spontaneous  unorganized  leaderless  nonideological  and apolitical. In stark contrast to the turmoil surrounding the Tiananmen Square protests  farmers have been gradually yet remorselessly leaching power away from the central government without overt confrontation or violence. Their reform from below may well have generated the most long-lasting and fundamental changes contemporary China has witnessed.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45924489068597,"sku":"ByrdShop_0813326826","price":240.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780813326825.jpg?v=1787673437","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/how-the-farmers-changed-china-power-of-the-people-transitions-asia-asian-america-9780813326825","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}