Survey Reveals Farmers’ Perceptions of Modern Life

ZHAO Deyu1 ( 赵德余) and FANG Zhiquan2 ( 方志权)
1 School of Social Development and Public Policy, Fudan University
2 Institute of Finance and Economics, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics

Editorial note:As the market mechanism deepens and economic development progresses, profound changes have been taking place in China’s rural areas with regard to farmers’ incomes, living conditions, spiritual life including religious belief, as well as rural eco-environment. How do farmers perceive these changes? Based on surveys conducted in three villages in Shanghai’s outlying rural areas, this article gives a general outlook on the current opinions of China’s farmers,especially in some developed regions.

I. Problems and background

Through efforts to relieve farmers’ burdens and increase financial input with an emphasis on the development of modern agriculture, infrastructure and social undertakings, the government is playing a key role in the building of a new socialist countryside.

General theory and policy practices reveal two interrelated facts: one is that the increasing impact of urbanization is causing profound changes in rural areas especially developed rural areas by way of a collective economy, community services, ecoenvironment, community culture, and public spiritual life; the other is that in the construction of a new socialist countryside, due attention has not been paid to the principal role of farmers.

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