Magic Potion or Mirage? Paradoxical Institutional Logics in China's Contemporary Poverty Governance

Yuanhang Zhu, Yale University
Zikun Liu, Wuhan University

China’s contemporary poverty governance is distinctive not only for its remarkable success in poverty alleviation but also for its institutional logic, which diverges from conventional development models. Drawing on ethnographic research (2018–2021) across three provinces, government and corporate statistics, and an original dataset of poverty alleviation reports from six national and local Party newspapers (2017–2021), we identify three paradoxical dualities in the governance logic of economic, political, and environmental poverty-alleviation policies: neoliberalism within a welfarist framework, affective governance within a legal-rational system, and moralized biopolitics within technocratic governance. We further examine how these potentially conflicting logics coexist and shape both the effectiveness and long-term social impact of China’s poverty governance. We conclude by discussing the broader implications of the Chinese case for development models in global contexts.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 153. Chinese Political Economy