LAUSR

Abstract In this paper, I show that the emergence of moral review councils (MRCs) in China's rural areas is a civilising offensive initiative. Counsellors of MRCs defend the local order and morality in the context of economic reform in China through the promotion of filial piety, prevention of disease, the upholding of proper marriage and funeral ceremonies, and the promotion of personal integrity, which is essential to the market. All of these ethical issues are addressed through fostering appropriate women as role models in families. By unpacking the complex rationale of MRCs, I argue that the civilising offensive in China's rural areas is an initiative based on the authority of male seniority aimed at eradicating and assimilating certain less qualified actors and values within the community, both of which are (un)intentionally in service of the development of a market economy. The paper expands the notion of a civilising offensive in non-European rural areas.