Persistence and polarisation in rural Bangladesh: Response to a debate

The authors here respond to the various comments on their original article in Vol.13, No.3 of The Journal of Peasant Studies. Their differences with the more traditional understanding of the process of differentiation of the peasantry are stressed and certain points arising from the comments are clarified. It is stressed that theirs is not an ‘equilibrium analysis’, but, rather, an analysis of the slow dynamics of differentiation, as opposed to the fast dynamics implied in classical Marxist models (including Lenin's).     

The political pragmatism of Chinese university students: 10 years after the 1989 movement

This study investigates the political orientation of Chinese university students after the 1989 movement. By drawing on survey data, it aims to judge whether there is a persistence or discontinuity in the students’ political orientation. It is found that students’ political beliefs remained the same before and after 1989 but their involvement in politics has changed to a pragmatic approach. The impact of the 1989 movement and the opportunity structure available on campus in the 1990s has contributed to the political pragmatism of university students. The relationship between economic activism and political pragmatism among the student population is also explored in this study.