Indebted to Development : Microcredit as (De)marginalisation in Rural China

Summary, in English

Microcredit schemes have been increasingly incorporated into development policiesthat aim to de-marginalise rural China. Based on in-depth ethnographicfieldwork,this paper examines the various roles that microcredit programmes play indevelopment outcomes at the local level. It demonstrates that microcredit has theability to facilitate the de-marginalisation of certain individuals/groups, whilesimultaneously (re)producing inequalities, thus exacerbating the marginalisation ofothers. Thisfinding demonstrates that microcredit does not induce uniform,predictable and linear development through the integration of marginal places andpeople into the formalfinancial system and wider economy. Instead, microcreditprogrammes reflect and reinforce the interlocking sets of unequal relationships thatare the root cause of marginality and underdevelopment in China. Through thisdetailed analysis of the contradictory outcomes of Chinese microcreditprogrammes, this paper provides the basis for a wider relational critique ofmicrocredit as an intervention aimed at inducing a specific type ofmarket-oriented linear development that is beneficial for some and detrimental forothers.