China Dispossession Watch: Making Visible the Human Costs of Forced Land Expropriation in Urbanizing China

Abstract

This thesis critically examines China's land expropriation regime through a mixed-methods approach that integrates ethnographic investigation, quantitative economic analysis, and practical interventions developed in collaboration with affected communities. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in the Yangtze Delta Region, including 50 in-depth interviews with dispossessed residents, the research documents how China's urbanization strategy systematically captures land value through a dispossession machinery operating at the intersection of state power, market mechanisms, and contested citizenship. The ethnographies reveal a sophisticated system of dispossession enabled by a network of actors whose complementary roles maintain procedural appearances while facilitating extralegal tactics. Quantitative analysis demonstrates systemic under-compensation and value capture that leaves dispossessed households with livelihood disruption and housing insecurity. The research examines how affected communities navigate severe constraints through adaptive resistance strategies to overcome power asymmetries and institutional manipulation, and documents their economic, social, and health outcomes. Moving beyond analysis to practice, the thesis introduces two pragmatic interventions developed through collaborative design with affected communities: a digital humanities platform hosting multimedia ethnographic archives and a quantitative data dashboard; and an anti-displacement handbook which operationalizes research findings into actionable guidance calibrated to the specific challenges identified by community partners. These practical outputs, established as the China Dispossession Watch social venture, reflect a theory of change focused on addressing information asymmetries while building horizontal knowledge networks and long-term movement capacity.