Bridging State and Society: College Students’ Collaborative Participation in Rural Construction in China

Abstract

Collaborative participation of college students is an emerging trend in mitigating the brain drain from rural communities. However, the impact of the collaboration on community capacity building and the roles of these students have remained unclear. This article gives some theoretical concerns on collaborative planning in the specific context of China. It employs historical materials and illustrative cases to demonstrate that rural construction in China is an interactive process between state and society, with college students, exerting a mediating role. Cases indicate that during collaborative participation, expert knowledge and local knowledge are integrated.