This book discusses the historical transformation of the destiny of Chinese peasants under the contemporary political economic conditions, and tries to explore the institutional mechanism behind the formation and maintenance of these conditions. The analysis focuses on the consequences of the great social mobilization brought about by the reform. The phenomenon of migrant workers is the most significant consequence of the change of Chinese peasants’ life courses. The destiny of migrant workers will be the destiny of Chinese peasants. The introduction chapter of this book discusses the historical context and peasants’ fates, their political participation, and citizenship of peasants after they become urban dwellers. Chapter one discusses the social implication and economic consequences of the urbanization of rural population. Chapter two discusses the living conditions for peasants that moved to work in cities, including working environments, living environments, education of their children, and their social networking. Chapter three discusses the challenges that the mobilization of peasants has posed on government policy making and urban managements. Chapter four discusses the latest development in the social mobilization of Chinese peasants.

The ever maturing art and ever more ambitious imaginative reach of Anton Chekhov, one of the world's greatest masters of the short story, led him in his last years to an increasingly profound exploration of the troubled depths of Russian society and life. This powerful and revealing selection from Chekhov's final works, made by the legendary American critic Edmund Wilson, offers stories of novelistic richness and complexity, published in the only formatp edition to present them in chronological order. Table of Contents A Woman's Kingdom Three Years The Murder My Life Peasants The New Villa In the Ravine The Bishop Betrothed

First published in 2006. This classic work examines the modern history of Europe from an unusual perspective. European history has usually focussed on the urban life elite and the middle classes, but before World War II more than half of the entire population of the continent was composed of rural peasants occupying a territory stretching from the Black Seas to the Baltic forming a natural barrier between East and West. These people- Poles, Ukrainians, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Southern Slavs and others- are the focus of this book. First published in the 1930s, Tiltman's Peasant Europe strays from the normal look at Europe during this time period. While much of the continent is concerned with problems of international relations, industry and the future of armaments, Tiltman goes a step further than most writers and speaks with the common peasant to uncover their day-to-day concerns. He finds that most simply want consideration and a reasonable standard of living for themselves and their children. Accompanying the text are full page photographs, most of which are taken by the author himself, which offer a candid look at peasant life.

Tracing the way in which the agrarian myth has emerged and re-emerged over the past century in ideology shared by populism, postmodernism and the political right, the argument in this book is that at the centre of this discourse about the cultural identity of 'otherness'/ 'difference' lies the concept of and innate 'peasant-ness'. In a variety of contextually-specific discursive forms, the 'old' populism of the 1890s and the nationalism and fascism in Europe, America and Asia during the 1920s and 1930s were all informed by the agrarian myth. The postmodern 'new' populism and the 'new' right, both of which emerged after the 1960s and consolidated during the 1990s, are also structured discursively by the agrarian myth, and with it the ideological reaffirmation of peasant essentialism.

This two-volume set examines the process of rural integration in modern China. In short, this is how the state penetrates the countryside and transforms the rural population, thus consolidating the foundation of modern state governance. Drawing on contemporary examples of state integration while observing the background of traditional China, this book systematically examines the entire process of rural reconstruction of China over the course of the 100 years since the late Qing Dynasty. In addition, the book discusses the special characteristics of each period and current societal trends in the Chinese countryside. This volume explores the following aspects of contemporary state integration: economic, fiscal, cultural, social, lifestyle, and technological. The book will be an essential reading for scholars and students in Chinese Studies, Political Science, Rural Studies, and those who are interested in the rural reconstruction of China in general.

Jan Grevstad's second collection of nine short stories has, above all, the ambition to amuse its reader. Amid a dash of satire, his stories reflect British type of humour at its best. Mostly stories of fiction, they have strong roots in real life with compassion for the human condition and human fate. The "Edelweiss Saga" is based on an old tale and has an ecological touch, while "The New Shooting Range" is a fantasy developed from a real experience of cultural clashes in the Alps. "Don't Queue" is based on the true story of a Royal Norwegian visit to Geneva, and "A Peasant in Paris" is entirely autobiographical.

During the past decade, life in post-socialist states has been fraught with instability and conflict. This book focuses on changing rural-urban relations - and growing divisions between them - in the context of the reforms. Contributions to this volume explore responses to capitalist-oriented policies and reasons for rural disenfranchisement. The work takes an ethnographic approach to exploring how 'global' processes engage with local, rural concerns in the post-socialist world.