This article examines the government purchase of social services in China as a window by which to investigate the evolving relations between the party-state and social organizations. Going beyond the conventional focus on state–non-governmental organization (NGO) dynamics in urban areas, we explore the expanded role of social organizations in rural service provision under state-led campaigns of rural modernization. Engaging with institutional theory and the consultative authoritarianism thesis, we argue that NGOs initially operated in an emerging organizational field where they exercised considerable autonomy in setting agendas and designing services. As the party-state's incentives to utilize and co-opt the social work profession grow, however, we observe a trend towards incorporation, wherein social workers now play a bigger role alongside the strengthening of state control over the sector. Through tracing the inception and eventual termination of a decade-long social service project in Guangdong, this article shows how state incorporation might undermine the future role of NGOs in rural development.

To determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium in dairy cattle in Guangdong Province, South China, 1440 fecal samples were collected from 10 farms and screened for Cryptosporidium with PCR. The overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium was 4.38% (63/1440), and the infection rates in preweaned calves, postweaned calves, heifers and adults were 6.4% (19/297), 6.19% (33/533), 1.48% (4/271) and 2.06% (7/339), respectively. Three Cryptosporidium species, Cryptosporidium andersoni (n = 33), Cryptosporidium bovis (n = 22) and Cryptosporidium ryanae (n = 8) were detected by DNA sequence analysis of the 63 positive samples, and C. andersoni was identified as the most common species on the dairy cattle farms. In preweaned calves, C. bovis was the most prevalent species (9/19, 47.4%). In contrast, C. andersoni was the predominant species (19/33, 57.6%) in postweaned calves and the only species found in heifers and adults. The zoonotic species Cryptosporidium parvum was not detected in this study. Twenty-four C. andersoni isolates were successfully classified into three multilocus sequence typing (MLST) subtypes. MLST subtype A4,A4,A4,A1 was the predominant subtype, and MLST subtype A2,A5,A2,A1, previously found in sheep, was detected in cattle for the first time. A linkage disequilibrium analysis showed that the C. andersoni isolates had a clonal genetic population structure. However, further molecular studies are required to better understand the epidemiology of Cryptosporidium in Guangdong.

In this article, we examine the administrative functions that have been carried out by social organizations (SOs) in China since 2013. We use evidence from Guangdong to demonstrate that the transfer of authority to SOs is selective, tends to create more burdens for local government, and generally does not lead to greater autonomy for SOs. We focus on five types of SOs that are undertaking new administrative functions with varying degrees of operational autonomy, which relates to the consultative authoritarian model proposed by Jessica Teets. Consultative authoritarianism allows for the expansion of relatively autonomous SOs and the development of indirect state control mechanisms. The model is designed to improve governance without democratization by expanding the role played by intermediaries such as SOs in public administration and service delivery. The evidence from Guangdong permits us to conclude that the transfer of authority to SOs allows for innovations in public administration, but that politics continues to motivate government decisions as to which functions are suitable for SOs to undertake, casting doubt on the ability of the Chinese Communist Party to achieve sustainable improvements in local governance and public service provision.

Scholars have paid little attention to Maoist forces and legacies, and especially to the influences of Maoism on people's everyday dress habits during the Cultural Revolution. This article proposes that people's everyday clothing during that time – a period that has often been regarded as the climax of homogenization and asceticism – became a means of resistance and expression. This article shows how during the Cultural Revolution people dressed to express resistance, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and to reflect their motivations, social class, gender and region. Drawing on oral histories collected from 65 people who experienced the Cultural Revolution and a large number of photographs taken during that period, the author aims to trace the historical source of fashion from the end of the 1970s to the 1980s in Guangdong province. In so doing, the author responds to theories of socialist state discipline, everyday cultural resistance, individualism and the nature of resistance under Mao's regime.

Two new Primulina species with yellow flowers, Primulina versicolor F.Wen, B.Pan & B.M.Wang and P. alutacea F.Wen, B.Pan & B.M.Wang (Gesneriaceae), from Guangdong, China are described and illustrated.

In 1927, when the Nationalist Party under Chiang Kai-shek established a republic, they also established a list of urgent duties. One was to reform the government structure from top to bottom so as to show the rest of the world its capability to govern the country in a modern way. While big cities were the showplaces for modernization and state-building, down at the county level, Chiang Kai-shek proclaimed Zhongshan in Guangdong the “model county.” To maintain this honor and its benefits, the local authorities made special efforts to restructure the government; reforming and retraining the police force was one important aspect of this attempt. While it is commonly held today that in the 1930s and 1940s county governments in the Pearl River Delta had disintegrated and were dominated by “local bosses,” this article uses previously inaccessible local records to examine Zhongshan County government and reform to answer one particular question: whether Zhongshan was successful in forming a modern police force. It examines a number of problems related to inefficiency and ineffectiveness in government administration, but at the same time also discusses why many civilians were welcoming, rather than suspicious, of the police. The answers to these issues suggest that the overall structure and management of the Zhongshan government (and even social integration) was to some extent consolidated in this period.