SELF-GENTRIFICATION LINKING GLOBAL PRODUCTION AND RURAL TRANSFORMATION: A CASE STUDY BASED ON A DUAL EMBEDDEDNESS FRAMEWORK

ZOU Guan-nan; SONG Wei-xuan; YANG Ren-hao

doi:10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2026.04.010

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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2026, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (4) : 91-100,156. DOI: 10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2026.04.010

SOCIETY

SELF-GENTRIFICATION LINKING GLOBAL PRODUCTION AND RURAL TRANSFORMATION: A CASE STUDY BASED ON A DUAL EMBEDDEDNESS FRAMEWORK

ZOU Guan-nan¹, SONG Wei-xuan², YANG Ren-hao³

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Abstract

Rural actors and their agency are central to integrating rural regions into global markets and promoting rural transformation. Drawing on global production networks and self-gentrification theory, this paper develops a "dual embeddedness" framework to explain how rural actors mobilize resources through global production networks while embedding themselves in local society. Taking coffee entrepreneurs in Baoshan, Yunnan as a case, the study uses fieldwork and interviews to examine this framework. The findings show that, first, by being embedded in global production networks, local coffee entrepreneurs respond to global market changes, introduce external knowledge and resources, and promote the specialization and upgrading of the coffee industry, thereby enhancing local value creation. Second, by being embedded in local rural society, these entrepreneurs contribute to local economic development, enhance their economic and social status, and reshape local material landscapes and cultural environments through engagement with rural communities. The study highlights the importance of a global perspective and shows that rural actors' agency provides an important mechanism for contemporary rural socio-economic transformation.

Key words

self-gentrification / rural gentrification / global production networks / rural transformation / coffee industry

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ZOU Guan-nan, SONG Wei-xuan, YANG Ren-hao. SELF-GENTRIFICATION LINKING GLOBAL PRODUCTION AND RURAL TRANSFORMATION: A CASE STUDY BASED ON A DUAL EMBEDDEDNESS FRAMEWORK[J]. HUMAN GEOGRAPHY. 2026, 41(4): 91-100,156 https://doi.org/10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2026.04.010

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