: 
Global Law Working Papers
2005 Series
GLWP 07/05
Author
Eva Pils
Global Research Fellow (2004-2005)
Title
"Land Disputes and Social Unrest in China: A Case from Sichuan"
Abstract
Ms. Pils sets out to prove in this case study that rights are inherent in contemporary legal practice in China, albeit imperfectly. Ms. Pils assesses a Chinese case regarding a land dispute involving several thousand peasants that were displaced from a suburban area in the Sichuan Province of China. In this case, the experience of deprivation catalyzed an awareness and assertiveness of some legal rights that ought to be protected. However, it became readily apparent that the collective ownership of the peasants was a legal fiction and that the rules to protect it were by themselves insufficient. The hapless rights assertion quickly led to challenges to government's legal authority through resistance. Ms. Pils draws from this experience of land seizures with a particular view to the fate of one village and its inhabitants, a description of their responses, and an interpretive conclusion. Contrary to what many Western commentators are writing, Ms. Pils argues that rights assertiveness among the most disadvantaged in China exists and is growing.
Contact Information
evapils@nyu.edu
