The local mediation of rural cultural governance: Problematization, asymmetry, and displaced agency in China's rural cultural revitalization

Abstract

This paper examines how rural cultural revitalization in China is shaped through the local implementation of national policy, development agendas, and commercial investment. Rather than viewing national policy as a uniform force, it explores how policy goals related to cultural protection, public cultural services, and rural development are translated into local projects. The study combines critical discourse analysis of major national policy documents issued between 2021 and 2024 with a documentary case study of Gongcheng in southern China. The findings show that national policy frames rural culture through interconnected logics of protection, improvement, and development. These policy orientations provide a flexible framework that local governments can adapt through tourism promotion, investment attraction, and wellness-related initiatives. In Gongcheng, cultural resources such as ethnic traditions, food culture, ecological landscapes, and health-related knowledge have increasingly been incorporated into development strategies and market-oriented projects. While these initiatives can enhance cultural visibility, infrastructure, and economic opportunities, they may also create unequal access to cultural decision-making, representation, and economic benefits. The paper argues that the key challenge of rural cultural revitalization lies in how policy is mediated through local governance and state–market arrangements. It concludes that more inclusive approaches are needed to strengthen local participation, improve benefit-sharing, and support rural communities as active contributors to cultural development.