China's Embedded Activism : Opportunities and Constraints of a Social Movement

by Ho, Peter; Edmonds, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780203946442
• ISBN10: 0203946448
• Copyright: 2007-10-19
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Summary

In recent years China has been remarkable in achieving extraordinary economic transformation, yet without fundamental political change. To many observers this would seem to imply a weakness in Chinese civil society. However, though the idea of democracy as multitudes of citizens taking to the streets may be attractive, it is simultaneously misleading as it disregards the nature of political change taking place in China today: a gradual shift towards a polity adapted to a pluralist society. At the same time, one may wonder what the limited political space implies for the development of a social movement in China. This book explores this question by focusing on one of the most active areas of Chinese civil society: the environment. China "s Embedded Activismargues that China "s semi-authoritarian limitations on the freedom of association and speech, coupled with increased social spaces for civic action has created a milieu in which activism occurs in an embedded fashion. The semi-authoritarian atmosphere is restrictive of, but paradoxically, also conducive to nationwide, collective action with less risk of social instability and repression at the hand of the governing elite. Rich in case studies about environmental civic organizations in China, and written by a team of international experts on social movements, NGOs, democratization, and civil society, this book addresses a wide readership of students, scholars and professionals interested in development, geography and environment, political change, and contemporary Chinese society.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	p. xi
Notes on contributors	p. xiii
Preface	p. xv
Abbreviations	p. xvii
Introduction: embedded activism and political change in a semi-authoritarian context	p. 1
Self-imposed censorship and de-politicized politics in China: green activism or a color revolution?	p. 20
Corporatist control of environmental non-governmental organizations: a state perspective	p. 44
Media, civil society, and the rise of a green public sphere in China	p. 69
Grassland campaigns during the collective era: socialist politics and local strategies in Uxin Ju	p. 89
Channeling dissent: the institutionalization of environmental complaint resolution	p. 111
Not against the state, just protecting residents' interests: an urban movement in a Shanghai neighborhood	p. 151
Caged by boundaries? NGO cooperation at the Sino-Russian border	p. 171
Transnational advocacy at the grassroots: benefits and risks of international cooperation	p. 195
Perspectives of time and change: rethinking green environmental activism in China	p. 216
Bibliography	p. 226
Index	p. 250
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.