Fengshi Wu

Environmental GONGO Autonomy: Unintended Consequences of State Strategies in China

State-society relations are on the move in China. In recent years, many new voluntary societal movements, networks, and organizations have been formed. This is a dramatic development for China’s political system. This article examines whether the changes in state-society relations have been at the initiative of the state or are really a grassroots phenomenon. One hypothesis is that the state is creating and co-opting these kinds of groups because they can help the state fulfill its goals. Another hypothesis is that such groups and movements embody grassroots forces and represent a strengthening of the role of society in Chinese politics. This article challenges state-led models as being too simplistic. Even when the state does create societal groups, there can be unintended consequences related to those actions that result in a strengthening of the power of society. At the same time, the article challenges arguments that only emphasize the growth of genuine public participation in China. These arguments underestimate the continued and embedded power of the state in Chinese society. The article explores these issues by looking at a group of newly established government organized non-governmental organizations (GONGOs) that resemble something in between a governmental agency and a non-governmental organization (NGO). It begins by reviewing theories and empirical research addressing state-society relations in China. It then introduces the concept of a GONGO and discusses the state’s rationale in fostering the GONGO sector. Furthermore, it analyzes the role played by GONGOs in China’s environmental politics, and provides several detailed case studies. Most of the GONGOs that are considered were established in the late 1990s. The conclusion stresses that GONGOs with access to international resources and the means to strengthen self-capacity will be the most sympathetic towards the formation of a stronger green civil society in China.

Environmental Activism in Provincial China

Environmental activism and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are not limited to major cities, but have gradually taken root in provincial and local politics in China. This paper compares the development and characteristics of environmental activism in Guangdong province and Guangxi autonomous region, with the aim of shedding light on the causes of regional disparities in this field. With extensive and strong ties to peer organizations across issue areas within the province, grassroots environmental groups in Guangdong have grown as an integral part of local civil society. They have survived, through mutual-support, on a larger scale than those in Guangxi. Also, with a higher level of networking and capacity, environmental NGOs in Guangdong are more able to utilize the new opportunities offered by recent institutional reforms in social management and environmental protection in the province. The paper, thus, challenges the argument that over-emphasizes the domination of the state and points out that inter-organizational partnerships and the overall maturity of the civil society sector contribute most to the uneven development of grassroots environmental activism.

In the Name of the Public: Environmental Protest and the Changing Landscape of Popular Contention in China

Since the mid-2000s, China has experienced a wave of large environmental protests against major economic development projects. Based on both interviews and documentary sources, this article examines four prominent cases and identifies four innovations in China’s popular politics: broadened protest constituencies, mobilization for public goods, a proactive strategy to prevent government projects, and a mutual reinforcement of street mobilization and policy advocacy. These new traits of popular resistance have also begun to appear outside of the environmental arena. The way was paved for these innovations by transformations in the public sphere, a relative decrease in the risk of protest participation, and development of the environmental NGO sector. Although the new repertoire of contention appears in only some of China’s abundant protests, it is becoming more widespread and in some cases influences government policy. Recent environmental protests may well stand at the forefront of broader changes in the landscape of Chinese sociopolitical activism and contentious politics.

Strategic State Engagement in Transnational Activism: AIDS prevention in China

Existing literature on transnational activism highlights the contention between the targeted state and the advocacy actors, and the leveraged politics enabled through a third party. Based on an empirical study of transnational activism related to AIDS prevention in China, this paper argues that when the targeted government is not susceptible to inter-governmental pressure or international media exposure, external advocacy actors do not cease to be relevant to domestic politics. On the contrary, their role becomes more crucial under such conditions in terms of both immediate adjustments of practices at the community level and accumulative effects on long-term policy changes. This study has found that international non-governmental organizations and private foundations have employed various types of methods to strategically engage Chinese governmental agencies and officials for urgent relief delivery and opportunity of policy advocacy.

International non-governmental actors in HIV/AIDS prevention in China

ABSTRACTInternational non-governmental organizations were among the first international actors that responded to the emergence of AIDS crisis in China. Since 1994, the number of international non-governmental organizations and charitable foundations working in AIDS related issue areas in China has grown steadily and substantially. Despite their organizational differences, most of these non-governmental actors present the characteristics of independent mission, localized practice and diverse working focus. Even though they are constrained by financial and other factors compared with multilateral and bilateral official assistance agencies, they have still played a unique role in fighting against AIDS in China as technical experts, public educators, and civil society supporters.

Having Peers and Becoming One: Collective Consciousness among Civil Society Actors in China

Abstract Based on a unique survey of non-governmental organization (NGO) practitioners from diverse backgrounds, the article examines how these NGO practitioners view their peers and people alike, and the interconnectedness, unity and solidarity of the NGO sector. The research has found that mutual awareness and trust is strong at the interpersonal level among NGO practitioners, yet their views on the collective existence of an NGO and activism community remain divided. In addition, preliminary statistical analysis shows that particular work experiences such as connections with other NGOs and participation in policy advocacy are associated with the optimism of a shared community of social activism. More importantly, the more one has—or feels one has—having peers across organizations, the more favorably one thinks of the whole activism community. Therefore, the key to ‘becoming a community’ for civil society in China lies in ‘having peers’ for individual activists and NGO practitioners.

China's Marine Fishery and Global Ocean Governance

This paper first examines two most significant structural shifts in Chinas marine fishery sector in the past decades, namely, expanding outward and going after high market value species. It then explains how domestic policies and development strategies have shaped the trajectory of Chinas marine fishery sector, and analyzes the obstacles rooted in both domestic socio-political settings and global governance that have impeded policy reform and effective enforcement in China to ensure marine sustainability and international cooperation. Lastly, the paper explores possible options for transnational advocacy actors that are concerned with the global impact of Chinas growing fisheries.

Social Movements and Activist-Protest Volunteering

Scholars of volunteering have long excluded the radical, political forms of formal volunteering from their analytical gaze, especially more contentious social movements and collective activist-protest volunteering. This false dichotomy hinders scholarship by perpetuating analytical blinders. The present chapter helps remedy this oversight by reviewing research and theory highlighting overlaps between conventional volunteering, including conventional political volunteering, and unconventional, social movement activism as volunteering. Conventional political volunteering and unconventional political activism are bothmeans for inclusion, participation, accountability, and change (sometimes even democratization) of polities. Both conventional political volunteering and protest activism rely on commitment, values, solidarities, and often altruism, as ordinary citizens seek solutions to collective problems/issues.