Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of the book. This book aims to document and analyse the tremendous transformations of rural livelihoods, strategies, negotiations, contestations and struggles revolving around the livelihoods, their security, sustainability and their relationships with the urban in the wider context of the post-socialist Chinese political economy. Since the start of the market reforms in the late 1970s, rural livelihoods in China have undergone profound changes. The book employs a critical perspective and some of the theoretical, ontological and methodological challenges that people face in understanding post-socialist Chinese experiences in agricultural and rural development. It argues that a genuine understanding of post-socialist Chinese experiences cannot be achieved without investigating the complexities and dynamics of the diverse aspects of rural livelihoods and the struggles around these livelihoods within the specific historical, political and socio-cultural context, and the political economy of development in China.