Village Elites Research Articles

Manipulation without Resistance: Consensus Elections in Rural China

Abstract The Chinese Communist Party has been increasing its control over village elections since the early 2010s, yet this move has not triggered any widespread popular resistance. Drawing on ethnographic evidence from village elections held in 2017 in a county in Hunan province, I conceptualize a form of electoral manipulation I term “consensus elections,” in which the Party engineers a pre-electoral consensus with ordinary villagers on whom to select while deterring challenges from village elites. Consensus elections are rooted in the Chinese political elites’ ideal that favours electoral participation over competition. While participation increases regime legitimacy, competition threatens regime authority. Propaganda promoting this electoral ideal shapes the views of ordinary villagers, laying a basis of legitimacy on consensus elections. The villagers embraced voting as being oriented by a unitary common interest and developed a cynicism whereby campaigning was equated with corruption. Comparison of the processes involved in engineering consensus elections in five villages suggests popular support for such elections. Whereas popular resistance was mounted against the lack of participation, popular complicity helps the Party to deter challenges from village elites. Consensus elections have facilitated the fall of Chinese village elections without undermining the Party's legitimacy, but consensus elections will also encourage more political challenges from village elites through non-institutionalized channels.

Opportunistic Behavior of Village Economic Development Strategy Plan Program in Manokwari District

Respect as an empowerment program to increase the economic capacity of village communities in Papua and West Papua, its implementation has been going on since 2007 until now. Based on the results of surveys and quantitative research, the pros and cons of its existence state that this program has not been successful without explaining the causes of this failure by exploring community knowledge, especially the problem of the participation of the actors. Based on this, this study attempts to answer the following questions: 1. how is the participation of the regional elite, community elite in the planning and implementation of respect, and 2. how is the participation of the community elite, and the community in utilizing the results of respect.The research objectives were: 1. to analyze the participation of local elites and community elites in the planning and implementation of respect, and 2. to analyze the participation of community elites and the community in utilizing the results of respect, in order to obtain an overview of the implementation of respect and empowerment carried out in the program, then to obtain an overview implementation of empowerment in accordance with the uniqueness or specificity of the community. The research was conducted in four districts namely North Manokwari District, Ransiki District, Sidey District, and Minyambouw District. The research method used is qualitative using a phenomenological perspective with an emic approach.The results of the study show that: 1. provincial elites have not fully participated in improving the welfare of the village community, 2. district elites are not involved in the respect program so they are not fully responsible for improving community welfare, 3. village elites and community elites have not played a role as community motivators in village economic empowerment, and 4. community participation in villages responding to respect is still oriented as a project and not a program.

The Capitalize of Village Funds for Organizing Community Change

The Village Fund became a national policy that began in 2015 to support the development in villages. The capitalization of village funds is expected to bring about changes in society to improve welfare. The research objective is to describe and analyze the capitalization of village funds for organizing the process of change in village communities. This study attained data through in-depth interviews, field observations, and documentation studies. The excerpt of research theme to fill existing research gaps currently. There were two research locations that were selected by considering the achievements in village measurement and located in one rural area (district), such as the villages of Sukmajaya and Sasakpanjang in Bogor Regency. Village funds are used to support development activities and community empowerment to make changes. The capitalization of village funds is determined by the power of government elites by utilizing regulatory instruments as a guide from the central government to achieve processes and activities accomplished with the community. Societal changes that occur based on ownership of authority are the basis for encouraging societal change. This resulted in the village government as the main actor and the community with limited decision-making in accessing village development activities. In the end, village elites organized their own actions to bring about change. By paying close attention to the detailed provisions of the regulations presented as the basis for determining activities, they do not depart from the needs of the local community. Nevertheless, this was merely to implement and facilitate the capitalization of village funds in the two villages. Organizing was accomplished relying on a village government system that was too bureaucratic thus the community's ability to process the required changes was limited.

Conflicting Notions of Land in Indonesia

Coal mining in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, evokes not only struggles on the control of land but also conflicts between different notions of land. Based on ethnographic research in a mining area, I describe a relational attached notion of land which is subdued by a detached, monetary-based understanding in the course of increased mining. In negotiations on the compensation of land with representatives of the mining companies, members of the village elite, which are entangled in patronage networks with the companies, ignore the various notions of land by other villagers and sideline those who are critical. With my article, I contribute to the ontological dimension of environmental conflicts with insights from Southeast Asia thereby giving a diversified picture of the struggles on access and the lacking acknowledgement of different notions of land.

Disgruntled cadres: How tax reduction undermines rural governance

AbstractTax reduction is supposed to garner popular support, yet rural unrest sharply increased following the Chinese government's agricultural tax reform aiming to reduce peasants' tax burden. We argue that the tax reduction could undermine village elites' economic and political incentives to assist the state in implementing unpopular policies and achieving desirable outcomes. We exploit the exogeneous timing of the agricultural tax reform that abolished the agriculture tax and estimate its impact through a rare national representative village‐level panel dataset. We demonstrate that the tax reform led to tax noncompliance and rising social unrest. We further show that local governance worsened because village elites were disincentivized from carrying out state‐preferred yet unpopular policies.

How does industrial transformation enhance the development of coastal fishing villages: Lessons learned from different transformation models in Qingdao, China

With rapid urbanization and the declining marine fishery, a large number of Chinese coastal fishing villages have transformed into new fishing villages with new industrial structures. Attempting to reveal the process and mechanism of fishing villages’ revitalization driven by industrial transformation, this paper makes the definitions of four typical fishing village transformation types, i.e., fishery-dominated type (FT), fishing products processing dominated type (FPPT), and fishing village tourism dominated type (FVTT), and diversified development village type (DDT), and takes four typical transformed coastal fishing villages in Qingdao New Area as our research objects. Based on field observation and comparison of typical transformed fishing villages, this paper explores how industrial transformation enhances the development of coastal fishing villages and what makes better industrial transformation in these villages. More importantly, the findings from these four different transformed cases illustrate how government, village elites, public participatory, enterprises, the cultural and technological creativity can promote village revitalization. This study could help better understand the development process and different driving forces functions in the process of industrial transformation in coastal fishing villages.

The practice of village branding and marginalisation in Mojokerto, Indonesia

The background of this research is the phenomenon of villages that fail in branding and developing a positive image that causes marginalisation and stigma. The two research locations are the Sumberglagah ‘Leprosy Village’ in Tangjungkenongo and the ‘Duck Village’ in Modopuro. This study intended to answer two questions: how does it apply the place branding concept in the village scope? And more specifically, how do the village elites respond to these stigmas and discriminatory treatment the villagers receive? We used qualitative methods through interviews and questionnaires to answer these questions. This study found that the Tanjungkenongo village is known as the “Leprosy Village,” and one of the Sub-Villages in Sumberglagah is called the “Beggar Village.” On the other hand, the Modopuro village is known as the “Duck Village,” and Sememi’s Sub-Village is known as the “Chicken Intestine Waste Village.” As a response, the Tanjungkenongo Village elites tend to accept these outsiders’ perceptions towards their village. Meanwhile, the Modopuro Village Elites were divided into two groups. The elites who own related industries (duck farming, poultry slaughter, chicken intestine chips) feel comfortable with this image. In contrast, the elites who have no direct interest in the industries directly reject those outsiders’ views.

Elite Capture and Corruption: The Influence of Elite Collusion on Village Elections and Rural Land Development in China

AbstractThis article presents a qualitative empirical study of elite collusion and its influence on village elections and rural land development in China. Drawing on ethnographic data collected from two Chinese villages, it investigates how village cadres collude with other rural elites, using bribery, gift-giving and lavish banquets, to establish reciprocal ties with township officials and other public officials. Meanwhile, the officials make use of formal organizations to corruptly obtain profits and form alliances with village elites. The article examines how rural elites, especially village cadres, use this collusion to profit from the misuse of villagers’ collectively owned assets, the manipulation of village elections and the suppression of anti-corruption protests. It also offers new descriptive evidence of how recent reforms designed to strengthen the Party's overall leadership in rural governance may have actually facilitated elite capture and grassroots corruption.

Planning for the management of village-owned enterprises (BUMDes)

The weak understanding of BUMDes is what makes BUMDes discourse not well socialized to the villagers. How can you socialize if your own understanding is still very inadequate. As a result, the issue of BUMDes only blows on the village elite only or only in the village device circle. The weak development of human resources is what makes the institutional capacity and entrepreneurship of the village undeveloped and the lack of personnel to manage BUMDes MARGO JOYO in Semambung village jabon subdistrict and the thing that is no less important is most young people to work. It is still difficult to convince young people that BUMDes can guarantee harmony for its activists. The methods used qualitative descriptive data are obtained through observation, documentation, interviews and using the source of books, journals, and policy documents. The result of this research is that there are three processes of managing village-owned enterprises (BUMDes) namely planning which in planning there are 2 categories including work program plans that include making budget budgets to get capital and can open new business units. The second category in the planning is the acceptance target plan which includes socialization of Semambung Village residents to participate in the use of POS Indonesia services in electronic bill payment services.

Pengelolaan Dana Desa dan Evaluasi: (Studi Kasus terhadap Pengelolaan Dana Desa di Desa Sungai Abu Kecamatan Air Hangat Timur Kabupaten Kerinci)

Village funds are funds sourced from the APBN which are managed autonomously by each village in order to create a more independent village. In accountability for the use of village funds, the village government is required to be able to carry out in accordance with the regulations governing the use of village funds. The purpose of this research is to find out what is the role of the Village Elite in managing village funds, and what problems are faced in managing village funds in 2020. This study uses qualitative research with case studies. Data collection techniques were carried out by interviewing and documenting and then comparing the interview data with secondary research data. Data analysis used descriptive evaluative analysis with three steps in the form of data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The results of this study indicate that in the process of managing village funds in Sungai Abu Village, Air Hangat Timur District, there are obstacles, including the weak capacity and capability of village government human resources, lack of innovation in program activities and low community participation. So this still affects the village's ability to manage village funds.

Behind the Mask of Virtue: CSR Indocement's Original Face in the Conflict of Cement Factory Construction in Pati

Discourses about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are generally understood as goodwill and social virtue. This research with a CSR Indocement case study in the Pati District found something different in the study in areas that have not been affected by and in the process of expansion from PT SMS (a subsidiary of PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa). CSR Indocement, which has been run in Pati since 2012, is not based on a business ethic or corporate social virtue model. With political economy analysis, we found that 1) CSR Indocement runs in Pati as an effort to expedite the expansion of their capital which has strong resistance from the community rejecting the cement factory; 2) CSR Indocement for the last five years in Pati, nearly 90 programs that have been attempted none have been able to empower the community. These efforts were influenced by two things: 1) In carrying out its program CSR Indocement brought the program to the village elites. 2) CSR Indocement's initial goal for Pati was to build a consensus to give a red carpet for capital expansion so that the goal of empowerment is not paramount.

Village Elite and Cement Company: Power Relation of Village Heads Association of Bayah and Cement Company in Lebak, Banten

This research departs from industrial development in rural areas, one of which is the construction of a cement company in Bayah which has an impact on the environment and social welfare of rural communities. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method, research data obtained through interviews and documentation studies, with the aim of describing how power relations take place in the countryside between village heads and cement companies. To describe the power relation, this study uses Gaventa's Power Cube theory, which looks at power from three dimensions of the power cube. These dimensions are the form of power, the space of power, and the level of power. The three dimensions above are seen separately, but each other has a relationship that is like a Rubik's cube, which if one dimension is changed, it will have an impact on the other. From this study, there are several findings of power relations based on three dimensions of the power cube. First, the power relation of the village head association with the cement company is related to one another when illustrated in a Rubik's cube form. Second, the power relation in the dimension of form, namely the relation between the visible and hidden forms of power of the village head. Third, power relations based on the village head's space use open and closed spaces. Fourth, power relations based on level, the village head raises the level of power to the sub-district level and the power level in the village takes place between the village head and the cement company, not the association as an institution.

Česká selka – „aktérka“ moderních hospodářských, sociálních a kulturních dějin. Možnosti prezentace v paměťových institucích

In Czech historical production and in the presentation of the rural environment in memory institutions, the peasant is an almost invisible person for the period of the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, when the farmstead or peasant farm became a kind of showroom of commercialised, ethnically Czech agriculture. This was the case even though as a housewife (the wife of a farmer) she became a member of the middle class, part of the village elite. Literature, both fictional and academic, reflects on her care of her children and her diet, acknowledges her role in managing the farmstead, but leaves aside her spiritual life, her place in national society, and many other aspects. The presentation and visualisation of the Czech female peasant world should systematically show what was natural to it at the time and is unthinkable today, clarify the limits and boundaries of the social space that was reserved for female peasants and their daughters, explaining that the conservative tradition of the countryside has long limited women in their social and cultural roles, as well as in their fundamental economic roles. The female peasant is now a social category of the past and is therefore also unknown. The exploration of her life in the recent past contributes to the understanding of women’s emancipation, the economic and social modernisation of the countryside, and reminds us of a number of cultural and craft traditions slowly fading into oblivion.

NYADRAN AND SOCIAL STATUS: Case Study of the Efforts of Local Village Elites in the Field of Religion in Maintaining Social Status in the Javanese Muslim Community

This research was conducted in a village which is a Javanese Muslim community. This research is a continuation of previous research, but with a different focus. The focus of attention in this study is the emergence of the ritual movement of nyadran (grave pilgrimage) to the graves of the ancestors of the village founders which is carried out collectively and routinely. By using a qualitative approach, field phenomena show that the social stratification system in the village where the research is located shows conditions that are starting to fade. Related to the conditions of social life, it creates collective nyadran ritual movement. A number of villagers participated in the event, and their attendance was voluntary. The guides and those who lead this activity come from family group members who occupied a high social status in the community when the village was founded. Apparently, the revitalization of traditions has a function to maintain the pattern of social stratification of rural communities. Keywords : Nyadran , Social status, Javanese Muslim Community DOI: 10.7176/JRDM/82-03 Publication date: January 31 st 2022

Reflection on Rural Development: Village Fund, Village Tour, and the Covid-19 Pandemic

In 2015 the central government implemented the Village Fund program for all villages in Indonesia. The objective of this program was to accelerate poverty alleviation and promote village independence. One of the development priorities in rural areas is to achieve village independence by developing tourism villages with village funds. Meanwhile, at the end of 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic that broke out in Indonesia led to an increase in poverty in rural areas. This increased the need for assistance from village funds to help improve the welfare of the poor. In this study, the Giri Manik Village was examined because it was one of the national pilot villages in developing a tourist village using village funds. The research was conducted using a qualitative approach. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and documentation analysis. Based on the results, it can be concluded that developing the physical infrastructure of tourist villages does increase the income of the poor through cash-intensive labour. However, the benefits of tourist villages are largely enjoyed by the village elite.
 Keywords: village funds, tourist village, village elite, poor people, the Covid-19 pandemic

Women’s Participation in Village Developent Planning: Case of Indonesia

The introduction of participatory processes concerning village development planning by Law 6/2014 on Village open up the opportunity for village communities to shape village development priorities. It is expected that village community involvement over village planning will make village government more accoutable downwardly and village development be responsive to villagers problems and needs. Using literature review, the present paper inspects closely a body of literature to ensure that women and other historically marginalized groups have chance to participate meaningfully in these processes. The reviewed literature suggest a divergence between what scholars believe about advantages of participatory processes and limited impact of such. Similarly, within this nascent stage of village law implementation participatory spaces in determining village development priorities are still dominated by village elites and men, and village development is heavily focus on infrastructure development. However, the presence and empowered women’s organizations or groups which exists in villages might influential to drivw village development priorities that are responsive for women. What we learned from these body of literature is that meaningful participation by women and other historically disadvantaged groups can only be achieved through continious intervention and facilitation either by dedicated and reform-minded public officials and other critical actors. Furthermore women should involve in participatory village development planning as a collective, rather than as individuals.

Village Elite Role on The Productive Migrant Village Program in Banyumas Indonesia

Within social structure inside society, there is a group called the elite group consists of small number of people who are at the top of the stratum of the community. The group has a big role in various activities in the community. Banyumas is one of the regencies that receive a Productive Migrant Village Program (PMVP) whose implementation is related to the group of village elite. The purpose of this paper is to show how the role of the village elite in the village community empowerment, especially in the implementation of the programs. The method of the research is a critical qualitative research method. The data are obtained by interview, observation, and documentation. An analysis of the study was conducted interactively. The results of the study are; 1) The implementation of the programs are driven by village elites, 2) village political elites are responsible for the success since the beginning of the program, 3) political elites and economic elites ally in the implementation of the productive migrant village program. Such pattern of village elite alliances can be used as a useful model for the success of development programs or the empowerment of rural communities, not only in the programs, but also in other community empowerment programs.

Understanding Heritage-Led Development of the Historic Villages of China: A Multi-case Study Analysis of Tongren

ABSTRACT Historic villages in China have dramatically changed in recent years, particularly those in poor areas where local culture and a lagging economy constitute the socio-economic framework. The critical relationship between preservation and commodification has become the focus of debate, but little attention has been paid to how different historic villages have been changed through heritage-led development processes and different patterns of stakeholders involved. In this paper, a case study is presented, which focuses on three historic villages in Tongren, China. The findings confirm the idea that heritage preservation as a governance technique is vulnerable to changing socio-economic circumstances. Three transformational approaches with different patterns of stakeholder engagement are identified. In addition, the coalition between the government and real-estate development enterprises played a dominant role in the government-led approach. In the case where the government and enterprises are not strongly present, village elites and village cadres are the power holders in leading to the heritage-led development despite their dual position in heritage preservation and profit-making. This paper suggests that the rigorous, scientific investigation in the planning and project-making involving a shared platform of stakeholders should be developed to address a shared future for the historic villages in China. Abbreviations: VRP: Village Rectification Plan; VEMC: Villages with Ethnic Minority Characteristics; HCTVs: Historical and Cultural Towns and Villages; CTVs: Chinese Traditional Villages; COEs: County-owned enterprises; ESMV: Ethnic Solidarity Model Village.

Family and Local Elites as a Social Control for Children Deviation in Sungaiselan Village Central Bangka District

Deviant behavior can be defined as behavior that violates or iscontrary to the normative rules of the social environment concerned.Deviation is often done by adolescents to adults, but nowadayschildren also often do it. Sungaiselan Atas Village is one of the areaswhere children often perform deviant behaviors for children of theirage, namely drinking alcohol and gluing. The purpose of this studywas to identify the causes of children in Sungaiselan Village to deviateand to determine the social control of the family and local elites ofSungaiselan Village in overcoming children's behavior. This studyuses Containment Theory from Walter C. Reckless. The method usedin this research is descriptive qualitative. The data sources of thisresearch are divided into two, namely primary data sources andsecondary data sources. The data analysis techniques used byresearchers were data reduction, data display, and conclusiondrawing. The results of this study found that the factors that causechildren to deviate are lack of attention from their parents, lots of freetime, and a friendly environment. In addition, social control from thefamily and local village elites was also found, namely repressive andpreventive measures.

Family and Local Elites as a Social Control for Children Deviation in Sungaiselan Village Central Bangka District

Deviant behavior can be defined as behavior that violates or iscontrary to the normative rules of the social environment concerned.Deviation is often done by adolescents to adults, but nowadayschildren also often do it. Sungaiselan Atas Village is one of the areaswhere children often perform deviant behaviors for children of theirage, namely drinking alcohol and gluing. The purpose of this studywas to identify the causes of children in Sungaiselan Village to deviateand to determine the social control of the family and local elites ofSungaiselan Village in overcoming children's behavior. This studyuses Containment Theory from Walter C. Reckless. The method usedin this research is descriptive qualitative. The data sources of thisresearch are divided into two, namely primary data sources andsecondary data sources. The data analysis techniques used byresearchers were data reduction, data display, and conclusiondrawing. The results of this study found that the factors that causechildren to deviate are lack of attention from their parents, lots of freetime, and a friendly environment. In addition, social control from thefamily and local village elites was also found, namely repressive andpreventive measures.