The Risk of Impoverishment - The Social Impact of Involuntary Resettlement in Rural China

Abstract

Poverty research in general - and research on poverty in China in particular - is dominated by studies dealing with poverty reduction, while the question of its origin (i.e. how it is produced in the first place) is widely factored out. Inspired by Else Oyen’s alternative approach to understanding poverty, this paper aims at analysing involuntary resettlement induced by investment projects in rural China as an example of forces and processes producing poverty. After a short review of the concept and scope of involuntary resettlement caused by investment projects, the paper analyses the social impact of resettlement in rural China with a focus on loss of land and the risk of impoverishment. It is argued that the risk of impoverishment affects men and women in different ways and that gender-blind resettlement policies may create additional risks for female resettlers. The paper concludes that an analysis of poverty-production forces and processes would contribute to better-targeted resettlement policies as well as poverty-reduction policies. (Manuscript received January 30, 2007; accepted for publication March 1, 2007)