Civil Society and Governance in China


Book Description

Written by scholars from both inside and outside China, this wide-ranging collection of essays explores the complexity of the relationship between governance and civil society by combining theoretical exploration and empirical case studies based on the governance practice in China.




Civil Society in China


Book Description

Chinese civil society groups have achieved iconic policy advocacy successes in the areas of environmental protection, women’s rights, poverty alleviation, and public health. This book examines why some groups are successful in policy advocacy within the authoritarian context, while others fail. A mechanism of cultural resonance is introduced as an innovative theoretical framework to systematically compare interactions between Chinese civil society and the government in different movements. It is argued that civil society advocacy results depend largely on whether advocators can achieve cultural resonance with policymakers and the mainstream public through their social performances. The effective performance is the one in which advocators employ symbols embraced by the audience (policymakers and the public) in their actions and framings. While many studies have tried to explain the phenomena of successful policy advocacy in China through institutional or organizational factors, this book not only contains extensive empirical data based on field research, but takes a cultural sociological turn to identify the meaning-making process behind advocacy actions. Civil Society in China will appeal to students and scholars of sociology, political science, social work, and Chinese and Asian studies more broadly.




Transnational Civil Society in China


Book Description

This book discusses the penetration, growth and operation of transnational civil society (TCS) in China. It explores impacts on the incremental development of China's political pluralism, mainly through exploring the influences of the leading TCS actors on the country's bottom-up and self-governing activist NGOs that have sprung up spontaneously, in terms of capacities, strategies, leadership and political outlook, as a result of complex interactions between the two sectors.




China's Opening Society


Book Description

Despite its recent rapid economic growth, China’s political system has remained resolutely authoritarian. However, an increasingly open economy is creating the infrastructure for an open society, with the rise of a non-state sector in which a private economy, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and different forms of social forces are playing an increasingly powerful role in facilitating political change and promoting good governance. This book examines the development of the non-state sector and NGOs in China since the onset of reform in the late 1970s. It explores the major issues facing the non-state sector in China today, assesses the institutional barriers that are faced by its developing civil society, and compares China’s example with wider international experience. It shows how the ‘get-rich-quick’ ethos of the Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin years, that prioritised rapid GDP growth above all else, has given way under the Jiantao Hu regime to a renewed concern with social reforms, in areas such as welfare, medical care, education, and public transportation. It demonstrates how this change has led to encouragement by the Hu government of the development of the non-state sector as a means to perform regulatory functions and to achieve effective provision of public and social services. It explores the tension between the government’s desire to keep the NGOs as "helping hands’ rather than as autonomous, independent organizations, and their ability to perform these roles successfully.




Civil Society in China


Book Description

Chinese civil society groups have achieved iconic policy advocacy successes in the areas of environmental protection, women’s rights, poverty alleviation, and public health. This book examines why some groups are successful in policy advocacy within the authoritarian context, while others fail. A mechanism of cultural resonance is introduced as an innovative theoretical framework to systematically compare interactions between Chinese civil society and the government in different movements. It is argued that civil society advocacy results depend largely on whether advocators can achieve cultural resonance with policymakers and the mainstream public through their social performances. The effective performance is the one in which advocators employ symbols embraced by the audience (policymakers and the public) in their actions and framings. While many studies have tried to explain the phenomena of successful policy advocacy in China through institutional or organizational factors, this book not only contains extensive empirical data based on field research, but takes a cultural sociological turn to identify the meaning-making process behind advocacy actions. Civil Society in China will appeal to students and scholars of sociology, political science, social work, and Chinese and Asian studies more broadly.




Civil Society under Authoritarianism


Book Description

Civil Society under Authoritarianism takes a fresh look at civil society in China, analyzing the nuanced and dynamic relationship between civil society and government officials.




Environmental Governance in China


Book Description

This article provides an analytical overview of major works on the topic of environmental governance in China, with a particular emphasis on studies examining policies during the reform era (post-1978).




Global Civil Society and China


Book Description

This Element traces the history of and recent developments in the unstable relationship between global civil society (GCS) and China. It analyses the normative impacts GCS has had on China – including the Chinese state and domestic civil society – and the possibilities created by Beijing's new 'going out' policies for Chinese civil society groups. It examines the rhetoric and reality of GCS as an emancipatory project and argues that 'universal values' underpinned by principles of human rights and democracy have gained currency in China despite official resistance from the government. It argues that while the Chinese party-state is keen to benefit from GCS engagement, Beijing is also determined to minimize any impact outside groups might have on regime security. The Element concludes with some observations about future research directions and the internationalization of Chinese civil society.




Building Civil Society in Authoritarian China


Book Description

How is modern civil society created? There are few contemporary studies on this important question and when it is addressed, scholars tend to emphasize the institutional environment that facilitates a modern civil society. However, there is a need for a new perspective on this issue. Contemporary China, where a modern civil society remains in a nascent stage, offers a valuable site to seek new answers. Through a comparative analysis of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in today’s China, this study shows the importance of the human factor, notably the NGO leadership, in the establishment of a modern civil society. In particular, in recognition of the social nature of NGOs, this study engages in a comparative examination of Chinese NGO leaders’ state linkage, media connections and international ties in order to better understand how each factor contributes to effective NGOs.




NGO Governance and Management in China


Book Description

As China becomes increasingly integrated into the global system there will be continuing pressure to acknowledge and engage with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Suffice to say, without a clear understanding of the state’s interaction with NGOs, and vice versa, any political, economic and social analysis of China will be incomplete. This book provides an urgent insight into contemporary state-NGO relations. It brings together the most recent research covering three broad themes, namely the conceptualizations and subsequent functions of NGOs; state-NGO engagement; and NGOs as a mediator between state and society in contemporary China. The book provides a future glimpse into the challenges of state-NGO interactions in China's rapidly developing regions, which will aid NGOs strategic planning in both the short- and long-term. In addition, it allows a measure of predictability in our assessment of Chinese NGOs behaviour, notably when they eventually move their areas of operation from the domestic sphere to an international one. The salient themes, concepts, theories and practice discussed in this book will be of acute interest to students, scholars and practitioners in development studies, public administration, and Chinese and Asian politics. Reza Hasmath is a Lecturer in Chinese Politics at the University of Oxford, UK, and an Associate Professor in Political Science at the University of Alberta, Canada. His research looks at state-society relationships, the labour market experiences of ethnic minorities, and development theories and practices. Jennifer Y.J. Hsu is an Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her recent publications include a co-authored book HIV/AIDS in China: The Economic and Social Determinants (Routledge, 2011), and a co-edited book The Chinese Corporatist State: Adaption, Survival and Resistance (Routledge, 2012).