Civil Society in China

by

Hui Li, Jessica Teets

• LAST MODIFIED: 20 August 2024
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199920082-0222

Introduction

Civil society is often defined as citizen organizations that are non-state in origin and voluntary in nature. Although organizations like kinship/lineage and informal business associations existed throughout Chinese history, modern civil society in China began developing rapidly in the early 1990s, from only four hundred registered groups in 1986 to over 901,870 by the end of 2021. These groups consist of social associations (shehui tuanti 社会团体), philanthropic foundations (jijinhui 基金会), and social service organizations (shehui fuwu jigou 社会服务机构) mostly engaged in service delivery and community development. These civil society organizations (CSOs) are active in diverse fields, such as education, social services, culture, business services, agriculture and rural development, and environmental protection. There are also Chinese branches of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), known in China as overseas NGOs (ONGOs境外非政府组织), which consist of faith-based, humanitarian relief and development, private foundations, policy research think tanks, and professional associations working in diverse policy areas, such as environmental protection, poverty alleviation, and education, and with different stakeholders, including the government, businesses, and domestic NGOs. In the 1990s and early 2000s, these ONGOs, especially the grant-making foundations, played a vital role in developing local civil society in China. However, the implementation of the Overseas NGO Management Law may have significantly altered the dynamics between ONGOs and local civil society. The number of studies on civil society in China has been consistently increasing, with a notable acceleration in the 2010s. A large proportion of scholarly works on China’s civil society has focused on environmental NGOs (ENGOs). These studies primarily focused on civil society’s autonomy from the state, their governance, advocacy, and engagement in the authoritarian state. Another strand of literature focused on the management, strategies, survival, participation, and activism of NGOs. Scholars have also examined the development and adaptation of ONGOs and how they work with Chinese civil society organizations to promote domestic and global development. In addition to these focal themes, scholars have used different theoretical frameworks borrowed from the social movements and institutionalist literatures, such as political opportunity structures (POS), resource dependency theory, and institutional theories; and used mostly case-study research methodology, although large-N quantitative analysis and mixed-methods approaches are gaining in popularity. In the following, the literature on each topic will be summarized. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive summary of the relevant literature on civil society in China.

Civil Society Autonomy from the Authoritarian State

The dominant research question that emerged in the 1990s and 2000s focused on civil society’s autonomy from the state, including the capacity of emergent civil society in China. Most analyses conducted in the 1990s concluded that these associations were not fully autonomous from the state and operated as a corporatist extension of the state apparatus. Chamberlain 1993 noted that there was little evidence of an autonomous civil society. Other studies took a macro approach to the nascent civil society sector and examined its potential impact on the state. The influential article Saich 2000 showed how civil society organizations navigate constraints and opportunities to negotiate with the state. Later in the 2000s, scholars still debated the level of autonomy but found more independence among both government-organized groups and grassroots groups. By the mid-2000s, most groups independently located funding sources, hired staff, and ran programs, leading to a bifurcated sector with both government-organized NGOs and autonomous organizations operating simultaneously. In fact, 2008 was hailed as the “Year of Civil Society” by Shieh and Deng 2011 in reference to the prominent role played by civil society organizations (CSOs) in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake.

• Chamberlain, Heath. “On the Search for Civil Society in China.” Modern China 19 (1993): 99–215.

  DOI: 10.1177/009770049301900206

  This early exploration of emerging civil society concluded that although there was little evidence of an autonomous civil society that would match Western definitions, initial group activity suggested that the prospects for civil society in China were “not entirely bleak.”

• Chan, Anita, and Jonathan Unger. “China, Corporatism, and the East Asian model.” The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs 33 (1995): 29–53.

  DOI: 10.2307/2950087

  This article examined corporatist modes of state-civil society relations through federations and other peak organizations. Although corporatist organizations are dominated by the central state or by the local government, some of the old mass organizations and new associations are gradually coming under the influence of their designated constituencies and shifting gradually but perceptibly in a “societal corporatist” direction.

• Cooper, Caroline M. “‘This Is Our Way In’: The Civil Society of Environmental NGOs in South-West China.” Government and Opposition 41.1 (2006): 109–136.

  DOI: 10.1111/j.1477-7053.2006.00173.x

  A growing number of Chinese environmental groups constitute not only an effective force in tackling environmental issues, but also a genuine civil society that is transforming state-society relations in China. This article examines how environmental NGOs deal with existing constraints under the current Chinese political system.

• Ho, Peter. “Greening without Conflict? Environmentalism, NGOs and Civil Society in China.” Development and Change 32.5 (2001): 893–921.

  DOI: 10.1111/1467-7660.00231

  Ho argued that the specific features of China’s environmentalism can be attributed to the “greening” of the Chinese state at the time when environmentalism emerged, and the alternating politics of toleration and strict control of social organizations. As a result, environmentalism has developed in a gradual way, without requiring that these groups openly confront the government as they both share similar goals.

• Howell, Jude, and Jenny Pearce. Civil Society and Development: A Critical Exploration. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2002.

  Howell and Pearce explore the development of civil society in China, focusing on autonomy from the state and financing through international foundations. This nuanced analysis uses detailed case studies to evaluate how civil society works on development projects.

• Lu, Yiyi. “The Autonomy of Chinese NGOs: A New Perspective.” China: An International Journal 5.2 (2007): 173–203.

  DOI: 10.1142/S021974720700012X

  This article was one of the first to offer a more nuanced understanding of state-civil society relations in contemporary China. Lu shows that Chinese NGOs generally lack autonomy, and bottom-up civic NGOs are relatively more autonomous than government-organized NGOs.

• Ma, Qiusha. “The Governance of NGOs in China since 1978: How Much Autonomy?” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 31 (2002): 305–330.

  DOI: 10.1177/0899764002313001

  Ma argues that even as the Chinese government remains the most decisive component of NGO development, the state is withdrawing from responsibilities toward society. The interactive and mutually dependent relations between the government and NGOs indicate the continuing power of the party-state as well as its declining capacity to control NGOs’ growth.

• Moore, Rebecca R. “China’s Fledgling Civil Society: A Force for Democratization?” World Policy Journal 18.1 (2001): 56–66.

  DOI: 10.1215/07402775-2001-2006

  Moore finds that China’s civil society does not enjoy the autonomy assumed by the Western paradigm; however, any future political reform will need to be rooted in society if China is to experience a smooth transition to democracy. China’s civil society, though still constrained, should therefore be understood as laying the groundwork for future political reforms by fostering the participation, pluralism, and decentralization generally associated with liberal democracy.

• Morton, Katherine. “The Emergence of NGOs in China and Their Transnational Linkages: Implications for Domestic Reform.” Australian Journal of International Affairs 59.4 (2005): 519–532.

  DOI: 10.1080/10357710500367315

  This article argues that a civil society dimension is needed in order to obtain a more comprehensive picture of China’s ongoing process of reform and opening to the outside world. This is of particular relevance to ongoing foreign policy debates over democracy and human rights promotion in China.

• Saich, Tony. “Negotiating the State: The Development of Social Organizations in China.” The China Quarterly 161 (2000): 124–141.

  DOI: 10.1017/S0305741000003969

  Saich examined how with the state unable or unwilling to carry the same wide range of services and functions as before, organizations with varying degrees of autonomy from the party-state structures have created an increased organizational sphere and social space in which to operate, and to represent social interests, and to convey those interests into the policymaking process. This article analyzed how these organizations navigate state constraints and opportunities.

• Shieh, Shawn, and Guosheng Deng. “An Emerging Civil Society: The Impact of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake on Grassroots Associations in China.” The China Journal 65 (2011): 181–194.

  DOI: 10.1086/tcj.65.25790563

  This article examines the surge of volunteers, civic associations, enterprises, and media nationwide, who donated their time, money, and materials to the relief and reconstruction effort. Previously, crisis management was a state-dominated, top-down process, with limited involvement of ordinary citizens. However, the widespread participation of volunteers and associations in earthquake relief highlights the substantial advancements of civil society in China.

• Teets, Jessica C. “Post-earthquake Relief and Reconstruction Efforts: The Emergence of Civil Society in China?” The China Quarterly 198 (2009): 330–347.

  DOI: 10.1017/S0305741009000332

  Teets argues that participation in relief efforts served as a learning process whereby government, society, and civil society groups learned how to work together effectively. However, to consolidate these gains and further strengthen civil society, there must be greater institutionalization of these groups’ roles, increased capacity building, and greater trust between society, groups, and the local state.

• White, Gordon, Jude A. Howell, and Shang Xiaoyuan. In Search of Civil Society: Market Reform and Social Change in Contemporary China. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.

  DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198289562.001.0001

  The authors presented an operational definition of civil society and utilized various sources such as social organization documents, statistical compendia, interviews, and surveys to investigate diverse types of social groups, encompassing trade unions, women’s organizations, and business associations. They developed a typology of associations, including the caged sector, incorporated sector, interstitial limbo-world of civil society, and suppressed sector, while also exploring the intricate connections between the state and society in China.

• Yang, Guobin. “Environmental NGOs and Institutional Dynamics in China.” The China Quarterly 181 (2005): 46–66.

  DOI: 10.1017/S0305741005000032

  Yang argues that environmental NGOs are becoming increasingly visible players in China’s environmental politics. This article shows how the rise of environmental NGOs was shaped by political conditions, and opportunities offered by the media, the Internet, and international NGOs.