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The Policy and Practice of Microcredit in Rural China : Toward a Relational Understanding of Heterogeneous Implementation

Loubere, Nicholas LU orcid and Shen, Qiu (2018) In Modern China 44(4). p.418-452
Abstract
Much research on rural development interventions in China has found substantial variation in their implementation at the local level. These studies often analyze the reasons for this heterogeneity by identifying variables responsible for influencing (or distorting) interventions as they travel from central formulation to local implementation. Through an in-depth ethnographic examination of the local implementation of one of China’s largest microcredit programs in three townships in rural Jiangxi province, this article challenges the dominant depiction of external development interventions as reified and linear, and instead proposes a relational approach to understanding local heterogeneity. This approach reveals implementation outcomes to... (More)
Much research on rural development interventions in China has found substantial variation in their implementation at the local level. These studies often analyze the reasons for this heterogeneity by identifying variables responsible for influencing (or distorting) interventions as they travel from central formulation to local implementation. Through an in-depth ethnographic examination of the local implementation of one of China’s largest microcredit programs in three townships in rural Jiangxi province, this article challenges the dominant depiction of external development interventions as reified and linear, and instead proposes a relational approach to understanding local heterogeneity. This approach reveals implementation outcomes to be emergent from negotiations between diverse sets of actors at different levels. At the same time, it becomes clear that microcredit implementation reflects the contradictions implicit in China’s political economy of development. This points to two levels of implementation “relationality,” which results in unpredictable semi-chaotic variation, while simultaneously reproducing wider developmental relations. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Asian studies, Microfinance, Microcredit, Rural development, Policy implementation, China
in
Modern China
volume
44
issue
4
pages
418 - 452
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85047145693
ISSN
0097-7004
DOI
10.1177/0097700417753734
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
27d4b710-369e-4b09-8970-b1a4b21ddbb4
date added to LUP
2017-11-09 16:33:45
date last changed
2025-04-04 15:13:30
@article{27d4b710-369e-4b09-8970-b1a4b21ddbb4,
  abstract     = {{Much research on rural development interventions in China has found substantial variation in their implementation at the local level. These studies often analyze the reasons for this heterogeneity by identifying variables responsible for influencing (or distorting) interventions as they travel from central formulation to local implementation. Through an in-depth ethnographic examination of the local implementation of one of China’s largest microcredit programs in three townships in rural Jiangxi province, this article challenges the dominant depiction of external development interventions as reified and linear, and instead proposes a relational approach to understanding local heterogeneity. This approach reveals implementation outcomes to be emergent from negotiations between diverse sets of actors at different levels. At the same time, it becomes clear that microcredit implementation reflects the contradictions implicit in China’s political economy of development. This points to two levels of implementation “relationality,” which results in unpredictable semi-chaotic variation, while simultaneously reproducing wider developmental relations.}},
  author       = {{Loubere, Nicholas and Shen, Qiu}},
  issn         = {{0097-7004}},
  keywords     = {{Asian studies; Microfinance; Microcredit; Rural development; Policy implementation; China}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{418--452}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Modern China}},
  title        = {{The Policy and Practice of Microcredit in Rural China : Toward a Relational Understanding of Heterogeneous Implementation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0097700417753734}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/0097700417753734}},
  volume       = {{44}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}