Rural Supply and Marketing Cooperatives in China: Historical Development, Problems, and Reform
The historical development and performance of rural supply and marketing cooperatives (SMCs) in China are examined and linked to various reform periods. SMCs suffered a loss of focus on members as well as member control during several periods of reform and experienced declining financial performance during the most recent reform period. A number of factors related to this decline are presented, including ineffective reforms, lack of accountability and transparency, limited focus on member needs, a negative image for cooperatives, and poor understanding of contemporary cooperative management and governance practices.
Learning by Doing – Farmers’ Specialized Cooperatives Development in China
In many of the developing (transition) countries, government is promoting the use of cooperatives as organizations that can help enhance the development of farmers and other communities. Agricultural cooperatives are believed to function as a tool for the government in promoting the economic and social development, in particular by creating employment, generating income, eradicating poverty and strengthen farmers’ (market) power within the modern value chain. As for most transitional countries, Chinese government played a primary important role in agricultural cooperatives development. The government attempted to restructure the agro-food system to a modernized and industrialized one by supporting farmer cooperatives and producer organizations. Since the first “Law of Farmer Professional Cooperatives” (FPCs) was enacted in 2007, FPCs could enter into complex contracts and the development of cooperatives entered a new era. In 2003, there were more than 100 thousand producer associations and cooperatives in China (World Bank, 2003). Shen et al (2005) estimated that 2.91 percent of the farmers and about 10 percent of villages in China were members of FPCs in 2003. In June 2010, the number of FPCs was more than 310 thousands, which provided services to about 26 million farm households (covering almost 10 percent of farm households)1 . According to the insiders, at least one third of those FPCs only exist on the “paper”, another one third does not strongly meet the “cooperatives principles”, and only last one third of FPCs are functioning properly
Marxism and Educational Theory: Origins and Issues
Introduction 1. The Development of Marxist Theory 2. The Development of Postmodernist Theory 3. The Sociological Context: The Place of Marxism and Postmodernism in Educational Theory 4. Postmodernism, Marxism and Educational Theory: A Critical Analysis 5. Postmodernism, Marxism and Educational Practice: A Critical Analysis 6. Globalization, Marxism and the Future of Education Conclusion