Social assessment for projects in China is an important emerging field. This collection of essays - from authors whose formative work has influenced the policies that shape practice in development-affected communities - locates recent Chinese experience of the development of social assessment practices (including in displacement and resettlement) in a historical and comparative perspective. Contributors - social scientists employed by international development banks, national government agencies, and sub-contracting groups - examine projects from a practitioner''s perspective. Real-life experiences are presented as case-specific praxis, theoretically informed insight, and pragmatic lessons-learned, grounded in the history of this field of development practice. They reflect on work where economic determinism reigns supreme, yet project failure or success often hinges upon sociopolitical and cultural factors.

Social assessment for projects in China is an important emerging field. This collection of essays — from authors whose formative work has influenced the policies that shape practice in development-affected communities — locates recent Chinese experience of the development of social assessment practices (including in displacement and resettlement) in a historical and comparative perspective. Contributors — social scientists employed by international development banks, national government agencies, and sub-contracting groups — examine projects from a practitioner’s perspective. Real-life experiences are presented as case-specific praxis, theoretically informed insight, and pragmatic lessons-learned, grounded in the history of this field of development practice. They reflect on work where economic determinism reigns supreme, yet project failure or success often hinges upon sociopolitical and cultural factors.

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Preface and Acknowledgements
Abbreviations

Introduction: Making Economic Growth Socially Sustainable?
Susanna Price

PART i: ENGAGED SOCIAL RESEARCH IN SHIFTING DEVELOPMENT NARRATIVES

Introduction to Part One
Susanna Price

Chapter 1. Landmarks in Development: The Introduction of Social Analysis
Michael M. Cernea

Chapter 2. Social Science and the Mining Sector: Contemporary Roles and Dilemmas for Engagement
Deanna Kemp and John R. Owen

Chapter 3. Practicing Social Development: Navigating Local Contexts to Benefit Local Communities
Aaron Kyle Dennis and Gregory Eliyu Guldin

Chapter 4. Striving for Good Practice: Unpacking AusAID’s approach to Community Development
Kathryn Robinson and Andrew McWilliam

Chapter 5. Seeds of Life: Social Research for Improved Farmer Yields in East Timor
Andrew McWilliam, Modesto Lopes, Diana Glazebrook, Marcelino de Jesus da Costa, and Anita Ximenes

PART II: APPLYING SOCIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE IN CHINA

Introduction to Part Two
Susanna Price

Chapter 6. Social Assessment in the People’s Republic of China: Progress and Application in Domestic Development Projects
Li Kaimeng

Chapter 7. Turning Risks into Opportunities? Social Assessment as Governmental Technologies
Bettina Gransow (柯兰君)

Chapter 8. Participatory Monitoring of Development Projects in China
David Arthur and Jianliang Xiao (Elisa)

Chapter 9. How Social Assessment Could Improve Conservation Policy and Projects: Cases from Pastoral Management in China
Wang Xiaoyi

Chapter 10. Improving Social Impact Assessment and Participatory Planning to Identify and Manage Involuntary Resettlement Risks in the People’s Republic of China
Scott G. Ferguson and Wenlong Zhu

Chapter 11. Stakeholder Participation in Rural Land Acquisition in China: A Case Study of the Resettlement Decision-making Process
Yu Qingnian and Shi Guoqing

Conclusion
Susanna Price

Notes on Contributors
Glossary
Index