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Paper short abstract

Closer attention to tribute may help us reach an understanding of how the state is reproduced both as a system and an idea.

Paper long abstract

In an Shenzhen former rural village, the school's transfer to the state following urbanisation is locally interpreted as both an expropriation by the state and a gift to the state. I make two related points: the main point is that closer attention to tribute may help us reach an understanding of how the state is reproduced both as a system and an idea; my secondary point is that the distinction between government and state plays an important role in understanding how state power is conceived of as non-negotiable and at the same time, contestable within its own limits.