Social Connectedness in Marginal Rural China 285to learn, diffuse and share new technologies. However, the role of such social con-
nectedness should not be idealized nor overstated. Second, social connectedness is
not abstract but has roots in the daily life of farmers. Despite great variations in
terms of ‘organizational’ formats, it can be identified and measured through farmer
communication networks comprising kinship and neighbourhoods within vil-
lages, and close relatives and friendship outside of village. It is these networks that
provide a fundamental rationale for farmer innovation and self-organization in
marginal areas of Zhidan county. The larger the network, the greater the innova-
tion.
The Case Study of Taoliwa – an ‘Evergreen’ Village
Farmer innovation circles (FIC) as a form of social capital span a spectrum from
loose and general-purposive social communication to more focused and special-
ized groups. By accumulating and enhancing social connectedness, there is a pos-
sibility of ‘organizational innovation’ leading to a scaling-up of the innovative
group or emergence of new higher-level organizations. Deforestation is a serious
challenge for the Loess Plateau. Amongst the bare mountains, there are, however,
some ‘green islands’ of villages surrounded by meadows and trees. In these villages,
the high income levels and positive mental attitudes are evident. In order to address
why these ‘green islands’ emerge, we used case studies to provide further insights
into how the social connectedness can be accumulated and upgraded, leading to
further enhancement of household innovative capacity. This section focuses on
one of the ten case studies conducted during the field survey.
Taoliwa (meaning a convenient place producing pear and peach), is a remote
mountainous village on the border of north-west Zhidan. Of 17 households, all
belong to descendants (11–13th generation) of the eighth Liu’s generation, since
their ancestor moved into the village from a neighbouring province some 400 years
ago. Despite many periods of social upheaval in the 20th century, the Liu’s clan
still kept a comprehensive record of their clan history. Among 69 close kin and
relatives listed in their clan book, the majority are distant urban residents, some of
whom live in the cities of Beijing, Xian and Lanzhou. They are proud that a famous
Kuomintang general in the 1920–1930s, the tenth generation of the Liu clan, was
born and buried in this village.
Similar to elsewhere in Zhidan, some two-thirds of the village land had been
covered by forest, until the middle of the 1930s, when large-scale deforestation
began. Deforestation was further exacerbated during the period of collectivization,
the ‘Great Leap Forward’ in the late 1950s, and the ‘cultural revolution’ (1966–
1976) in particular, when the village was identified as an ‘object of dictatorship’
due to General Liu’s Kuomintang history. In addition, the continuous growth of
population and cultivation was an important factor contributing to deforestation.
In particular, the rural reforms of the early 1980s provided a strong stimulus for