Researching Chinese rural-urban relationship within Belgium’s everyday academic life: a reflection on power and intertextuality

In this article, by mobilizing the concept of “in-betweenness” and intertextuality, I show how the reflections on my lived experiences of acclimatization and involvement in Belgium has aided in shaping my theoretical understanding of Chongming villagers’ struggles in the eco-island project. Chongming is a rural island in the Yangtse River delta currently integrated in Shanghai’s urban development. My analysis unfolds on two levels. In the first place, my non-Shanghai and non-rural background creates a unique tension with my research topic: the rural reaction to the eco-island urbanization. My... Mehr ...