From elite capture to marginalization of the poorest: a new social exclusion in anti-poverty programmes in China

ABSTRACT

Based on a case study of state-directed aid resources in anti-poverty programmes, we detected a new phenomenon of social exclusion in China. In a period of several years, a shift is observed from elite capture to marginalization of the poorest. This phenomenon occurs under the administrative pressure from the authoritarian state and the morbid democratic mechanism. Contemporary structural changes in economic and social culture also make it difficult for marginal people to escape from this predicament. From a social structural transformation point of view, we suggest that the marginalization of the poorest should be seriously taken into consideration in rural development programmes and policies.

KEYWORDS:

• Social exclusion
• elite capture
• marginalization
• the poorest
• anti-poverty programmes
• China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. State-directed aid resources for poverty alleviation are distributed by seats allocation. Eligible applicants could receive aid resources who are in the list of registered poor households. .

2. Defined by EU as: ‘process through which individuals or groups are wholly or partially excluded from full participation in the society in which they live’.

3. China’s poverty and poverty reduction only refer to rural population, unless specified.

4. Extreme poverty is defined as living with per capita household consumption below 1.90 international dollars per day (in 2011 PPP prices).

5. Most of the scholars blame pain during the institutional reform for the main reason why share of the population living in extreme poverty in China suddenly raised in 1990.

6. The official poverty line in China for rural areas is put at an annual per capita income of RMB2300 at 2010 constant prices. The national poverty line increases according to the annual price levels. As noted by Li et al. (2017), it is RMB2855 in 2015, equivalent to $2.2 per day (PPP).

7. World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY?end=2013&locations=1W-CN&start=1981&view=chart.

8. ‘Outline for Development-oriented Poverty Reduction for China’s Rural Areas’ come into operation after 2001.

9. The recognition standards of impoverished countryside are (1) share of poverty population in this village is more than double of the data in whole province; (2) the average annual income per person in this village is lower than 60% of the mean level in the province; and (3) there is not any collective income in the village.

10. Mu is a Chinese traditional area unit of measurement. 1 mu = 666 m².

11. Gini coefficient in rural area increased from 0.355 in 2007 to 0.410 in 2013, although the urban–rural ratio has been dropped from 3.33 in 2009 to 2.95 in 2015. http://www.ciidbnu.org/news/201704/20170401224942706.html.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tian Tian

Tian Tian is a PhD student in College of Humanities and Development Studies at China Agricultural University and Faculty of Bioscience Engineering at Ghent University.

Stijn Speelman

Stijn Speelman is a professor in Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering at Ghent University.

Ting Zuo

Zuo Ting is a professor in Development Studies, College of Humanities and Development Studies at China Agricultural University.