China's New Urbanization: beyond the state-market and central-local dichotomies.

This paper examines the case of China's National New Urbanization Plan as an example of what might be called state-neoliberalism. Specifically, it suggests the need to go beyond the state-market dichotomy in understanding China's urbanization. While land use rights in both the urban and rural areas have been subsumed increasingly under the market logic, the processes were initiated by the state's alleged concern for reversing the longstanding discrimination against the rural societies and, more covertly, its need for industrial development and local financing. From this perspective, neoliberalization took place at the same time that state domination and guidance were sustained. This paper will also analyzes the complex dynamics of central-local interaction in both the initiation and implementation of land policies in China. Not only do local governments observe and implement policies promulgated by the central government, they also took initiatives and contributed to policy change in the long-run. This apparently obvious yet oft-overlooked observation suggests the value of adopting a multi-scalar view of the national-state in China. Finally, despite the weak positions of most peasants, they give inputs to and quite often affect the outcomes of land expropriation and urban space production. The bargaining process was both made possible by and vindicated the ambiguity of land-related property rights in China. The essay will refer to the case of a small county in Eastern Sichuan and explore the extent to which hegemony and consent have been secured in the process of land expropriation and urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]