New Village Squires'Participation in Village Governance:Village Discourse and Authority Establishment
The new village squires are believed to be able to overcome the dilemma of the lack of village governance subjects.It has been argued that the economic resources of new village squires are the basis of their authority,and less attention has been paid to the importance of community discourse in village governance authority.In fact,economic resources are a sufficient but not necessary condition for their authority generation.Firstly,the"elite discourse"as shared knowledge can help new village squires with economic capital to stand out in order to generate village authority.Second,the"discourse of responsibility"and the"discourse of competence"guarantee that their village authority will not be refuted by the villagers and lose its legitimacy.Finally,the"public-spiritedness discourse"transforms the personal prestige of the new village squires into village authority.In order to participate effectively in village governance,new village squires should not regard villagers as objects of governance,instead,they should pay attention to villagers'evaluations;they should transform governance methods and results into discourses familiar to villagers;and they should learn to mobilize villagers by making use of the ethics behind the discourse rather than coercive power.
new villagesquirescommunity discoursevillage governance authority
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