When the State Retreats: Rural Elites and Women’s Labour Precarity in China
About this Event
Drawing on two rounds of fieldwork conducted in summer 2023 and winter 2025 in a hemp-weaving workshop in rural Ningxia, this study examines rural women’s non-farm employment and the governance conditions that shape it. It focuses on how local government involvement and informal support from rural elites jointly structure the spatial, economic, and social dimensions of women’s work. Methods include participant observation and semi-structured interviews with workshop founders, employees, and key local actors. These narratives reconstruct the workshop’s establishment, everyday operations, and evolving challenges. The analysis highlights three main findings.
First, guanxi-based support from rural elites plays a crucial “gap-filling” role. Networks mobilised by a former village secretary, an entrepreneur-teacher, and a local manager provided training, market access, and coordination that formal state mechanisms did not adequately supply.
Second, state involvement remains largely symbolic and constrained by bureaucratic procedures. Although officials offered space and temporary contracts, financial support was inconsistent and shifting policy priorities weakened continuity.
Third, employment is characterised by both flexibility and precarity. Home-based piecework allows women to combine care responsibilities with income generation, yet unstable wages, lack of formal contracts, and reliance on a single key manager create significant vulnerability. The manager’s resignation in 2024 immediately reduced women’s participation, underscoring the fragility of this hybrid model. Overall, the findings suggest that rural initiatives are most effective when informal elite networks complement state support, but remain unstable when government engagement is procedural rather than substantive.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Beibei Gao is a PhD candidate at the Lau China Institute, King’s College London, specialising in ethnographic research. Her work focuses on gender, religion, education, and rural politics, with particular attention to Hui Muslim women in northwestern China. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Tsinghua University and a master’s in applied sociology from City University of Hong Kong. Her current research examines rural women’s non-farm employment and the role of local governance and informal elite networks in shaping rural labour opportunities.
ABOUT THE PGR WORKSHOPS
MCI’s PGR workshops are lunchtime seminars held in person at the Manchester China Institute. They seek to bring together students, faculty and staff who can best provide feedback as postgraduate researchers develop their ideas. Free lunch will be provided.
Accessibility
The MCI is a listed building and therefore does not have any lifts. Please note that you must use the stairs in order to access the venue and the toilets.
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