Rural Privatisation and Women’s Labour: Property Rights and Gender Concepts in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang

Abstract

Privatisation in China, which began in 1978, has had a significant effect on Chinese people’s social and economic life. The first step in the privatisation of the countryside was the distribution of peoples’ commune property to every household. In general, this has proven very successful, at least from the economic viewpoint. Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, two rural Chinese provinces with large amounts of land but relatively small populations, also implemented the policy. People have increasingly settled in one place since livestock have become private property and herders are free to use their own pastures. Privatisation has markedly increased the herders’ enthusiasm for work, and their living conditions have continuously improved. The change in women’s right to labour and property is also highly significant. The communist victory in 1949 greatly affected these and privatisation seems to be another milestone. However a number of traditional patterns have persisted as well. Continuity and change are examined here with particular reference to the sexual division of labour, the work of children, family structure and the factors that influence women’s economic and social independence.