Suchergebnisse

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.

With the passage of a nationwide Charity Law in March 2016, Chinese nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) entered a new and unprecedented era of legal regulation, one that dramatically transformed the formal rules governing state–civil society relations. This article highlights problems experienced under earlier regulations and outlines the major features of the new law. Drawing on multiple focus groups and interviews with grassroots NGOs around China, the article highlights gaps between NGO leaders' understandings of their work and several of the law's key provisions, revealing civil society's skepticism and pessimism about prospects for change. It concludes by considering the law's likely implications for civil society development in China and lessons for other authoritarian states, suggesting that regulation in such regimes should be seen more properly as a tool of political control.

Over the past decade, a number of foreign grantmakers and international NGOs have funded, initiated and/or designed training programs that introduce their Chinese grantees to "best practices" in "NGO management". Drawing on several years of fieldwork, this article sheds light on the origins and lessons conveyed by two such "capacity-building" programs. Rather than being grounded in the actual, lived experience of Chinese civil society organizations and emerging organically from the bottom up, these programs are shown to reflect more accurately the concerns of foreign donors and the professionalized segment of the North American nonprofit world. The article concludes by suggesting that, despite recurring Chinese suspicions of civil society as a new weapon of foreign imperialism, the structures and practices promoted by donors mesh well with state efforts to channel new social energies into predictable and governable organizational forms. (China J/GIGA)

"This book explores civil societies with distinct characteristics in Asian countries and regions to redefine the dynamic and interconnected formation that is Asia. This book documents how civil society organizations, such as charities and foundations, across Asia which have traditionally been observed to imitate or borrow the methods employed by Western nongovernmental organizations, have been developing distinctive relations with the state, inventing novel civic techniques. Furthermore, it highlights how such organizations have created a characteristic framework for governance and spaces for new social practices and reflections. Reflecting on the historical backgrounds, political systems, and cultural settings, each case study reveals the diverse and alternative approaches and solutions to various issues facing contemporary Asian society. Studying the dynamism of Asia to highlight the emergence of new civil society practices this book will be a great interest to scholars and students of Asian Studies, Anthropology, Sociology & Political Science"--

This book represents a pioneering interdisciplinary effort to analyze Asian civil society under authoritarianism, a regime type that is re-appearing or deepening after several decades of increased political liberalization.By organizing its approach into four main themes, this volume succinctly reveals the challenges facing civil society in authoritarian regimes, including: actions under political repression, transitions to democracy, uncivil society, political capture and legal control. It features in-depth analyses of a variety of Asian nations, from 'hard' authoritarian regimes, like China, to 'electoral' authoritarian regimes, like Cambodia, whilst also addressing countries experiencing democratic regression, such as the Philippines. By highlighting concrete responses and initiatives taken by civil society under authoritarianism, it advances the intellectual mandate of redefining Asia as a dynamic and interconnected formation and, moreover, as a space for the production of new theoretical insight. Contributing to our understanding of the tensions, dynamics, and potentialities that animate state-society relations in authoritarian regimes, this will be essential reading for students and scholars of civil society, authoritarianism, and Asian politics more generally.

"This book represents a pioneering interdisciplinary effort to analyse Asian civil society under authoritarianism, a regime type that is re-appearing or deepening after several decades of increased political liberalisation. By organising its approach into four main themes, this volume succinctly reveals the challenges facing civil society in authoritarian regimes, including: actions under political repression; transitions to democracy; uncivil society; political capture and legal control. It features in-depth analyses of a variety of Asian nations, from 'hard' authoritarian regimes, like China, to 'electoral' authoritarian regimes, like Cambodia whilst also addressing countries experiencing democratic regression, such as the Philippines. By highlighting concrete responses and initiatives taken by civil society under authoritarianism, it advances the intellectual mandate of redefining Asia as a dynamic and interconnected formation and, moreover, as a space for the production of new theoretical insight. Contributing to our understanding of the tensions, dynamics, and potentialities that animate state-society relations in authoritarian regimes, this will be essential reading for students and scholars of civil society, authoritarianism, and Asian politics more generally"--

Although the Chinese state has an outsized influence on shaping civil society in China, extant literature has generally overlooked the increasing role of the market in its non-governmental organization (NGO) development. This paper examines the marketization of Chinese civil society through an ethnographic investigation of funding relationships between domestic Chinese philanthropic foundations and grassroots NGOs. Two case studies of foundation venture philanthropy projects show that businesspeople, through their intensive involvement in foundation-led funding programmes, are introducing strong market influences to the non-profit sector. Notwithstanding the attraction of foundation funding, many NGOs decry the negative side effects of non-profit marketization. We argue that NGOs in this context risk being transformed into social product providers and resource-chasing machines, detracting from the self-directed social missions that many NGO leaders see as their original calling. These observations on emergent NGO–foundation relationships also reflect participants' increasing uncertainty about the direction of Chinese civil society development. (China Q/GIGA)