Finished the first section of the Empirical Findings, which mainly discusses the ambivalence of state intervention, and where the space for contestation comes from. The good part is tracing the history of how the state power is involved from a perspective of the operation of grassroots institution, though not good enough. Need to refine it later.

Have been thinking about HA as a commercial organization and its relationship with the state for the whole day. Finally decided that I should focus on the ecology at the neighborhood level, while all the other state actors should only be portrayed as the “background”.

“State intervention” may not be a precise generalization. When we say state intervention, we think of government regularizing the market, implementing welfare policies, or something like that, which is not what I want to say.Verdery’s idea on ethnography of state at the grassroots level may be helpful.

Thinking about talking to the literature of state, not civil society.