ABSTRACT
According to the case study of “weiwen” (stability maintenance) in Mine X, it is found that surrounding farmers tend to demand high compensation during the exploitation and utilization of mineral resources, since they cannot obtain defense of their legitimate interests by legal means but may have to suffer from negative externalities such as environmental pollution. As stability maintenance turns out to be a rigid requirement for local governments, the surrounding farmers make use of that Achilles’ heel to obtain compensation from mines by threatening local governments with triggering disturbances. In order to gain a high reputation in political achievement assessment, local governments usually act as a mediator and ask mines to compensate the farmers whether or not the farmers’ petitions are justified. Therefore, monetary compensation serves as a principal method of maintaining stability, and results in numerous social conflicts.
(The author is a Professor at the School of Public Administration at Nanchang University.)
