“Working the government” Poverty alleviation resettlement in two Yi villages, Sichuan, China
Working the Government: Poverty Alleviation Resettlement in Two Yi Villages, Sichuan, China 1. Meaning of the Study “Working the Government” refers to the strategies used by local communities to adapt to, manipulate, or creatively use government policies for their own benefit . In this context, it examines how villagers in two Yi ethnic minority villages in Sichuan province responded to China’s Poverty Alleviation Resettlement (PAR) program . China introduced PAR as part of a national campaign to eliminate extreme poverty by relocating people living in remote or environmentally fragile areas to new settlements with better infrastructure and economic opportunities. These programs reorganize villagers’ lives, housing patterns, and economic activities under government planning. The concept of “working the government” highlights that villagers were not passive recipients of policy. Instead, they actively negotiated, resisted, or creatively used resettlement policies to achieve th...