Desakota: A Politically Calculated Spatial Configuration of

Urbanization

Ziwei Zhang, MDes ULEKuangyu Xiong, MDes ULE

05/09/2019

Global Depeasantization

graph from: https://ourworldindata.org/employment-in-agriculture

spatial transformation

● deruralization● overurbanization

peasant class transformation

● differentiation● dissolution

Global Depeasantization

Agriculture

Industry

Sir Arthur Lewis:Economic Development with Unlimited Supply of Labor

missing from the two-sector surplus labor model:relative surplus population (RSP)/industrial reserve army● floating RSP ● latent RSP ● stagnant RSP ● pauperdom

Agriculture

Industry

Where might RSP reside?How does state relocate RSP?

squatter settlements, favelas, slums, and desakotas

Rural

Urban

How do different strategies of agrarian labor absorption result in different spatial configurations and processes of class transformation?

Key Concepts

● depeasantization● agricultural surplus labor● industrialization● peasant class transformation● urbanization● social reproduction

Research Question

● intense mixture of agricultural and nonagricultural activities

● often stretched along corridors between large city cores.

● previously characterized by dense populations engaged in agriculture

● governance “grey zone”

● dual identities of peasants

the Linkage Between Depeasantization and the Emergence of Desakota

Urban-Agrarian Interface

Shanghai, ChinaJakarta, IndonesiaSeoul, South Korea

Creation and Absorption of Agricultural Surplus Labor

Indonesia

● Floating Mass● Free trade zone● transmigration program● semi-proletarianization● latent RSP

China

● Household Responsibility System

● Township and Village Enterprises

● hukou● semi-proletarianization● latent RSP

South Korea

● land reform● food aid ● from ISI to combination of

ISI and EOI● disparity between rural

and urban● rural-to-urban migration

(urbanization)● proletarianization● floating RSP

Creation and Absorption of Agricultural Surplus Labor ● depeasantization● agricultural surplus labor● industrialization● peasant class transformation● urbanization● social reproduction

economic growth, uneven development

○ household responsibility system: release agri-labor; start of the industrial sector (opening reform一1984)

○ rise of TVEs “enter the industrial sector without entering the city; leave farmland without leaving homeland “进厂不进城，离土不离乡”；absorb agriculrural surplus labor in place (1984一1988)；

○ enter the industrial sector by entering the city; leave farmland while leaving homeland “进厂又进城，离

土又离乡” long-distance migration(1989 to now)

Chinese Desakota Mutation

Chinese Desakota Mutation

Chinese Desakota Mutation

Migration

image on the right: Shi, Q., & Liu, T. (2019). Glimpsing China’s future urbanization from the geography of a floating population. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 51(4), 817–819. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X19834572

Change of Food Regime● Loss of farmland

● Growing agricultural import

● Overseas agricultural investment

China’s Direct Overseas Investment in Agriculture, Forestry, and FishingChina’s Agricultural Imports and Exports

images from left to right,https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/china-and-hong-kong-challenges-and-opportunities/https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2018/april/china's-agricultural-investment-abroad-is-rising

Marginalized RSP● Structural discrimination

● Lack of legal protection

● Lack of political alliance

● Lack of social welfare landless peasant movement workers asking for payment

precarious working environment

images from left to right, up to down :1:https://www.cbc.ca/radio/the current/the-cur-rent-for-january-20-2016-1.3411477/china-s-government-land-grabs-fuel-unrest-with-farmers-villagers-1.3411595; 2. https://www.sohu.com/a/215386087_664569;3:http://slide.news.sina.com.cn/s/slide_1_2841_100172.html 4: http://www.221319.com/news/shehui/2018/0611/3451.html

undesirable living condition

● accomodate RSP● discipline labor● further squeeze surplus agricultural labor productivity● seem chaotic, but it is a deliberate political project● boost economic growth for urban capital accumulation● benefit the state and enterprises, not peasants

Desakota: A Politically Calculated Spatial Configuration of Urbanization

Shanghai, China Sao Paulo, Brazil

Similar issues of depeasantization and surplus labor absorption

Different peri-urban spatial pattern

See Desakotas in the Mirror of Favelas

urban and agricultural land near Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo

Potential Explanation: Precondion on Urban Fringe

Potential Explanation: the Timing of Land Reform in Latin America

urban and agricultural land in Yangtze River Dealta

See Desakotas in the Mirror of Favelas

Value and Future Implications of the Research

● Connect Desakota with the depeasantization

● The success of Desakota should not be evaluated only by economic output

● Future research and policy should take into account the vulnerability of RSP during

the urban/agrarian transformation

Desakota: A Politically Calculated Spatial Configuration of Urbanization

Ziwei Zhang, MDes ULEKuangyu Xiong, MDes ULE

05/09/2019

Thank you!