PLA 62 - Wagging the dragon's tail: emerging practices in participatory poverty reduction in China
This special issue of Participatory Learning and Action reflects on the journey towards participatory approaches to poverty reduction in China, focusing on transformations at the interface between the government and rural communities.
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August 2011
Guest editors: Johanna Pennarz, Song Haokun, Deng Weijie, Jianping Wang
The articles show how development and poverty approaches continue to evolve in the specific Chinese political context and its ongoing governance changes, and in line with China’s unique ability to experiment with and pilot new approaches, pragmatically using international experience.
The discussion is relevant and important for the global audience that is trying to understand China’s unique approach to development and its implication for global poverty reduction. It is also relevant to understand how and under what conditions participatory approaches become embedded in specific contexts.
This issue draws on case studies from internationally funded projects, including the Poor Rural Communities Development Project (PRCDP). It also includes other articles on participation in China, as well as relevant resources and tips for trainers.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. Content can be freely reproduced for non-commercial purposes, provided the source is fully acknowledged.
Follow the links below to download the whole issue or individual articles in pdf format.
Also available in Chinese (traditional and modern)
Contents
Editorial
Nicole Kenton
Preface
Alan Piazza
Overview: Changing government-community interface in China
Johanna Pennarz, Arjan de Haan
Prologue: Reflections on participation in Southwest China in the early 2000s
Andreas Wilkes
Part I: Communities taking charge in China
Introduction
Johanna Pennarz
How community farmers participated in project planning and implementation
Nati
How an ordinary farmer was elected as project leader
Qin Guozheng
How farmers claimed their rights to supervise projects
Song Haokun
Part II: Changing roles and relationships in China - the facilitator
Introduction
Johanna Pennarz
Reflections from the Sanjiang Workshop
Johanna Pennarz
Facilitating community-level processes
Qin Cheng
The role of village facilitators
Qin Guozheng
The role of the township facilitator
Meng Shunhui
Adapting to the local context: lessons learnt from external facilitation
Wang Jianping
Part III: Management practices in China - towards fairer and more transparent resource allocation
Introduction
Johanna Pennarz
From participation inside villages to competitive selection amongst villages
Yang Gang
Participatory planning and poverty analysis in Guangxi
Qin Zhurong
Different ways for implementation in different communities
Chen Chunyun
Part IV: The China Watershed Management Project - a participatory approach to watershed management
Introduction
Nicole Kenton
Background and approach
Wang Yue
Innovative, community-led practices
Wang Baojun
The perspective of the Ministry of Water Resources
Wang Yue
Challenges and lessons learnt
Liu Yonggong
Introduction
Lu Caizhen and Johanna Pennarz
Improving the health of rural women through participation
Yu Denghai
Applying participatory teaching in big classes – experiences of a primary school teacher
Li Jianru
Participation based on empowerment: the Chengdu Gay Care Organisation
Wang Jun, Wang Xiaodong, Yang Dou, Yu Fei, Lin Shu, Lin Xiaojie, Wen Yi, Yang Yu
Part VI: Scaling up – ways of institutionalising participation in China
Introduction
Johanna Pennarz
Exploring community-driven development in Chinese poverty reduction
Li Hui
A participatory learning system in Guangxi
Huang Canbin, Zhou Qing
Adapting participatory methods to the government system: the Wenchuan Earthquake Rehabilitation Project
Deng Weijie
EIAs go public: creating new spaces for participation
Lila Buckley
Part VII: Conclusions - Changing spaces at the interface of government and citizens
Johanna Pennarz
PART VIII: Tips for Trainers
Why participatory research and how participatory?
Maruja Salas
Learning is more than training – experiences from PRCDP
Johanna Pennarz
Training in the Chinese context: tips and resources for trainers
Wang Jianping, Deng Weijie, Sun Dajiang and Johanna Pennarz
IN TOUCH
RCPLA Network