Moral narratives of state policy: Urban development in Meicun, China

Abstract

Ordinary people do not necessarily judge policy in the same way as does the state. They are less concerned with efficient implementation, cost-effectiveness or instrumentality and more with the moral implications of policy. This article takes a fresh look at the rational perceptions of the policy world. In the Chinese polity, there is a popular idiom: ‘policies come from above and countermeasures come from below’. Ordinary people use this idiom to criticize local bureaucrats for failing to implement policies and instead pursuing their own interests. Such criticisms assume that policy formulation is a strategic or rational activity. Although this view certainly contains an element of truth, it depicts policy formulation and implementation as a purely instrumental act. Similarly, the anthropology of policy has tended to focus much of its attention on the use of neoliberal policies as a tool of governmentality. The aim of this article is to show that policies are part of everyday moral narratives. Drawing on a concept of ‘policy imaginaries’, this article seeks to explore how Chinese farmers make ethical judgments about state policies. To illustrate my point, I provide an ethnographic analysis of urban change in a Chinese village, Meicun. In this rural area, state policies are often described in ethical rather than technical terms.