Author Archives: elenakayes

About elenakayes

The key to understanding exists at the nexus where self-interest and practice meet power and policy; I explore this nexus through participatory field research.

“Seeking Truth From Fact”: The Relevant Role of Experimental Models in China’s Rural Development

Posted on November 20, 2014 by elenakayes

I returned to Suichang last week as an assistant to a professor I met at a conference last summer who hired me as a mentor for a group of US undergrad students she lead on a month-long trip across China. … Continue reading →

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Urban-to-Rural Migration: From Business Marketing in Beijing, to Fish Farming in Sichuan?

Posted on October 31, 2014 by elenakayes

Rapid urbanization, rural-to-urban migration, social stratification and the environmental consequences of poorly regulated economic growth and resource degradation – including the pollution of air, soil, and water, loss of arable land to development, deforestation, and desertification – are all central concerns facing China, … Continue reading →

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In Defense of WWOOF (Worldwide Workers on Organic Farms)

Posted on October 8, 2014 by elenakayes

Wwoof, rather than any relation to academia, often elicits images of stinky, broke backpackers, smugly aloof in their rugged ability to brave rural home stays and exchange their labor for room and board while scoffing at the pseudo-culturally-immersed delusions of … Continue reading →

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ASPAC 2014: Conference-Coping Strategies

Posted on August 14, 2014 by elenakayes

On my way back to Maine for the summer, I stopped over in Bellingham, Washington to present this year’s field research at the annual Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast (ASPAC) Conference hosted by Western Washington University. This was not … Continue reading →

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