The Modernization of the Peasant Economy: In Search of the Socialist Path (小农经济现代化的社会主义道路)

Past studies have discussed the “socialist” nature of agricultural development in China in terms of equality in distribution since the introduction of the Household Responsibility System ( HRS ) and its institutional necessities. This article instead addresses the issue of the modernization of the peasant economy by exploring the various practices in agricultural production that led to a socialist path since 1980. The peasant economy under the HRS takes the form of a dual-layer management, and the collective economy is under the unified management by the collective. The collective economy propels the modernization of the peasant economy by the means of integration of funding, integration of land rights, and land concentration, respectively, in response to the different phases in the development of the forces of production. What is emerging in China is the fourth path to agricultural modernization characteristic of China, after the existing three paths, namely capitalist agriculture of large private farms, socialist agriculture of large collective farms, and the capitalist agriculture of small family farms. This new path, or socialist agriculture of small family farms, is characterized by the enlargement of the management unit on the basis of the collective economy that overcomes the constraints of the peasant economy. However, while institutional possibilities do exist for a socialist path in agricultural development in China, the policies pursued by the Chinese government are turning Chinese agriculture into capitalist agriculture of small family farms.学界从均等分配角度揭示了家庭承包经营制后农业发展的“社会主义”性质及其制度合理性，本文尝试从农业生产角度揭示1980年以来中国社会主义道路实践，探究小农经济现代化问题。家庭承包经营制改革后的小农经济采取双层经营体制，集体经济以集体统一经营的方式存在。在不同生产力阶段，集体经济分别以资金整合、地权整合和土地集中的方式，促进小农经济现代化。从集体经济扩大农业经营单位，克服小农经济局限性的角度，中国在资本主式私人大农场农业、社会主义式集体大农场农业、资本主义式小农家庭农业之外，探索出具有中国特色的第四种农业现代化道路，即社会主义式小农家庭农业。中国农业发展有走向社会主义道路的制度空间，但中国政府的政策选择使得中国农业发展正在走向资本主义式小农家庭农业。(This article is in Chinese.)