Rethinking Local Governance in Modern China in Light of Migratory Patterns

Jie Lu’s new book is a landmark work of political science that lucidly draws on the diverse fields of history, anthropology, and migration studies in elucidating divergent modalities of local village governance in China. Drawing on an impressive number of statistical analyses, rich case studies, and his own fieldwork in rural China, Lu strongly makes the case that the effectiveness of local governing institutions in rural China is dependent on the social environment, community networks, and rates of out-migration. Through exploring local governance in Chinese villages, Lu sheds important insight into grassroots democracy, lineage solidary groups, rural banking, disaster relief, and conflict resolution, which enables this book to appeal to broad scholarly audiences.