Taxation without Representation in Contemporary Rural China

This book provides the first, in-depth English study of the tax burden problems farmers face in China.

Thomas P. Bernstein (Author), Xiaobo Lü (Author)

9780521813181, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 27 March 2003

302 pages, 15 b/w illus. 18 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.529 kg

Review of the hardback: '… comprehensive … its startling revelations and bold analysis should be compulsory reading for leaders in China and other developing countries who are genuinely interested in social reform and who seek to prevent suffering of a critical sector of the working class.' Development and Change

The financial burden imposed upon the Chinese farmer by local taxes has become a major source of discontent in the Chinese countryside and a worrisome source of political and social instability for the Chinese government. Bernstein and Lü examine the forms and sources of heavy, informal taxation, and shed light on how peasants defend their interests by adopting strategies of collective resistance (both peaceful and violent). Bernstein and Lü also explain why the central government, while often siding with the peasants, has not been able to solve the burden problem by instituting a sound, reliable financial system in the countryside. While the regime has, to some extent, sought to empower farmers to defend their interests - by informing them about tax rules, expanding the legal system, and instituting village elections, for example, these attempts have not yet generated enough power from 'below' to counter powerful, local official agencies.

1. Introduction
2. Peasants and taxation in historical perspective
3. Extracting funds from the peasants
4. Institutional sources of informal tax burdens
5. Burdens and resistance: peasant collective action
6. Containing burdens: change and persistence
7. Burden reduction: village democratization and farmer national interest representation
8. Conclusions.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Development studies [GTF], Regional studies [GTB]