ABSTRACT
China is a distinctive society in many ways—the country's huge size alone lends it immediate importance. Equally important, however, are China's mass social programmes: large-scale collectivisation during the Great Leap Forward (GLF) shifted to the household-based responsibility system and the introduction of marketisation within a relatively short period of time. The Chinese agrarian reform programme also highlights the importance of discussions over the ‘optimum’ size of agricultural units and of the various benefits of land reform in terms of securing political allegiance, maintaining livelihoods and reinforcing human rights. These policies and shifts in social programmes all have profoundly gendered implications.
