Reconfiguration of state–society relations: The making of uncompromising nail households in urban housing demolition and relocation in Dalian, China

Chen Li, Mark Yaolin Wang and Jennifer Day
Additional contact information
Chen Li: Institute of Future Cities, Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Jennifer Day: The University of Melbourne, Australia

Urban Studies, 2021, vol. 58, issue 8, 1581-1597

Abstract: Based on an ongoing housing demolition and relocation project in Dalian, this article describes uncompromising nail households, who have resisted resettlement through intractable conflict and prolonged bargaining. Building upon a state–society approach, this article reveals a new relationship between state, society and governance in the institutional background of neoliberal urbanism in China. Uncompromising nail households within this transforming governance system are able to individually equip and maintain their resistance. The article identifies heterogeneous uncompromising nail households: ‘hard’, who maintain a firm stance throughout the bargaining process; and ‘hardened’, who increase resistance during the process of bargaining. These findings contribute to understanding of the reconfiguration of state–society relations, and demonstrate significant contradictions between the central and local states in the dynamics of change in neoliberal urbanism in China.

Keywords: state–society relations; uncompromising nail households; heterogeneity; conflicts; housing demolition and relocation; Dalian; 国家-社会关系; ä¸ å¦¥å çš„é’‰å­ æˆ·; 异质性; 冲çª; 房屋拆è¿; 大连 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098020912151 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:58:y:2021:i:8:p:1581-1597

DOI: 10.1177/0042098020912151

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Urban Studies from Urban Studies Journal Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().