Anyone who is interested in processes of social change and the puzzling rise of the individual in rural China will find it interesting to read Yunxiang Yan's collection of ten previously published and repackaged articles (covering the period 1992–2005) with a new introduction and conclusion applying individualization theory to the materials.
The factors behind the rise of the individual and the impact on rural institutions are to be found everywhere in the ten thematically organized chapters, eight of which are largely based on Yan's fieldwork in Xiajia Village in Northeast China. Yan's original analysis of changing rural life conditions is subtle and persuasive. Chapter 1 deals with social stratification at the village level, noting the dramatic loss of rural cadres' status and power after decollectivization. Chapter 2 discusses how reforms and market forces transformed power relations in the village as cadres lost control over resources, while peasants became aware of...
