Evolvement of citizenship in urban China or authoritarian communitarianism? Neighborhood development, community participation, and autonomy

Journal of Contemporary China

Volumn 18, Issue 61, 2009, Pages 491-515

  Heberer, Thomas ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF DUISBURG ESSEN   (Germany)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AUTHORITARIANISM; CITIZENSHIP; CIVIL SOCIETY; LEADERSHIP; NEIGHBORHOOD; PARTICIPATORY APPROACH; PARTY POLITICS; STATE LED DEVELOPMENT; TOP-DOWN APPROACH; URBAN SOCIETY;

ASIA; CHINA; EURASIA; FAR EAST;

EID: 70449913579     PISSN: 10670564     EISSN: 14699400     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10670560903033786     Document Type: Article

References (86)

1. This paper is organized around the results of a major research project on'Participation, legitimacy, and social stability in urban areas in China'. Three surveys were conducted altogether (in-depth interviews of ordinary residents and local officials): in spring 2003 in two neighborhoods in Shenyang; in summer 2003 in two neighborhoods in Chongqing; and in spring 2004 in two neighborhoods in Shenzhen. Further interviews were carried out in Qingdao (2005) and Beijing (2006). The intention of the research project was to examine the political awareness of urban citizens and officials in terms of participation and citizenship.
2. Danwei, or 'work unit', is used to designate a public enterprise (factory, government agency, educational institution, etc.) of which one is a member. Until recently, the danwei were ascribed an all-encompassing responsibility for the lives of their employees.
3. Ying Kefu,'Guojia guanli yu gongmin quanli-ziyouzhuyi de jiben yuanze' ['Administration bt the state and rights of citizens-basic principles of liberalism'], Xuehai [Ocean of Learning] 3, (2004), pp. 42-47.
4. See on this discussion, for instance, Gao Like,'Lusuo de gongminquan' ['On Rousseau's citizen rights'], Zhejiang Xuekan [Zhejiang Academic Journal] 4, (2004), pp. 108-115.
5. Liu Bokui, Zhonghua wenhua yu Zhongguo shequ [China's Culture and China's shequ] (Guangzhou: Jinan daxue chubanshe, 2005), pp. 213-221.
6. Cf. Rachel Murphy and Vanessa L. Fong,'Introduction: Chinese experiences of citizenship at the margins', in Vanessa L. Fong and Rachel Murphy, eds, Chinese Citizenship. Views from the Margins (London and New York: Routledge, 2006), pp. 1-8;
7. Tianshu Pan,'Civilizing Shanghai: government efforts to cultivate citizenship among impoverished residents', in Fong and Murphy, eds, Chinese Citizenship, pp. 96-122.
8. Kevin O'Brien,'Villagers, elections, and citizenship in contemporary China', Modern China 4, (2001), pp. 407-435.
9. On the question of citizenship in China cf. Merle Goldman and Elisabeth J. Perry, eds, Changing Meanings of Citizenship in Modern China (Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 2002).
10. as well as Dorothy J. Solinger, Contesting Citizenship in Urban China (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1999).
11. Cf. Joshua Fogel and Peter Zarrow, eds, Imagining the People: Chinese Intellectuals and the Concept of Citizenship, 1890-1920 (Armonk, NY and London: M.E. Sharpe, 1997).
12. Peter Harris, 'The origins of modern citizenship in China', Asia Pacific Viewpoint 43(2), (2002), pp. 181-203.
13. O'Brien,'Villagers, elections, and citizenship in contemporary China', pp. 410-411;
14. Thomas H. Marshall, Class, Citizenship, and Social Development (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1976), pp. 71-77.
15. Meanwhile, village leaderships have to be elected by the population in direct and secret ballots.
16. So, for instance, in Yingchou County in Guangxi, see Li Xueping and Chen Weidong,'Jinnian lai chengshi shequ minzhu jianshe fazhan baogao' ['Report on the development of the build-up of urban shequ democracy since this year'], in Li Fan, ed., Zhongguo jiceng minzhu fazhan baogao 2000-2001 [Report on the Development of Grassroots Democracy in China 2000-2001] (Beijing: Dongfang chubanshe, 2002), pp. 325-326.
17. See, for instance, Renmin Ribao [People's Daily], (31 March 2003).
18. On the history and current situation of Home-Owners Self-Organization Committees see Benjamin L. Read,'Democratizing the neighbourhood? New private housing and home-owner self-organization in urban China', The China Journal 49, (January 2003), pp. 31-59.
19. Chen Weidong,'Min ping guan: rang jumin chengwei gongmin' ['Citizens assess officials: let inhabitants become citizens'], Shequ [Community] 2-4, (2004), p. 11.
20. In China it is emphasized as well that the'citizenship quality' (gongmin suzhi) of the population must be elevated, cf. Meng Gu and Bai Zhigang, Shequ wenhua yu gongmin suzhi [Shequ Culture and Citizen Quality] (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui chubanshe, 2006).
21. Statistics for Germany state that approximately 70% of the population volunteer on a regular or sporadic basis, cf. Thomas Gensicke,'Bürgerschaftliches Engagement in Deutschland', Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte 12, (2006), p. 11.
22. Yutang Lin, My Country and My People (New York: The John Day Company, 1939).
23. Renmin Ribao, (7 January 2005). In light of these numbers, Renmin Ribao called for the mobilization of party members as volunteers,
24. cf. Wang Yonghong,'Chuangxin shequ dangjian, jianshe hexie shequ' ['Renew the party construction in shequ, establish harmonious communities'], Renmin Ribao, (15 July 2005).
25. Renmin Ribao, (6 December 2005; 17 July 2006).
26. Cf. Shequ 11(2), (2005), p. 15.
27. Research Center for the Important Ideas of the Deng-Xiaoping Theory, the'Three Represents' of Beijing City and the Publishing House of the Journal 'Front' of the Party Committee of Beijing City, eds, Goujian hexie. Beijing shi jianshe hexie shequ xin tan [Build-up Harmony. New Reflection on the Build-up of Harmonious shequ in Beijing City] (Beijing: Xuexi chubanshe, 2006), p. 50.
28. Renmin Ribao, (17 July 2006). In such plan economy thinking, the state's mobilizing strategy becomes visible once again.
29. Interview, Lugu shequ, 4 March 2006.
30. Goujian hexie, p. 50.
31. Sun Ying,'Shequ zhiyuanzhe fuwu neihan de sange kuozhan' ['Three enhancements of the content of voluntary services in shequ'], Shequ 6(1), (2005), pp. 17-18.
32. Cf. the corresponding document from the State Council [Renmin Ribao, (17 July 2006)].
33. Interview, Lugu shequ, 10 October 2006.
34. Interview, Shenyang, 11 March 2003.
35. Interview, Shenyang, 13 March 2003.
36. See Henry S. Richardson, Democratic Autonomy-Public Reasoning about the Ends of Policy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002) on the matter of democratic autonomy.
37. Printed in Zhou Wenjian and Ning Feng, eds, Chengshi shequ jianshe gailun [Outline of Urban shequ Buildup] (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui chubanshe, 2001), pp. 442ff.
38. On the latter, see Colin Bird,'The possibility of self-government', The American Political Science Review 94(3), (September 2000), p. 563.
39. The relationship between resources, autonomy and governance is also being discussed in the meantime by Chinese scholars, cf. Feng Ling and Li Zhiyuan,'Zhongguo chengshi shequ zhili jiegou bianqian de guocheng fenxi' ['Analysis of the process of structural change of governance in China's urban shequ'], Renwen Zazhi [Journal of Humanities] 1, (2003), pp. 133-138.
40. Xu Kaiming,'Shequ zizhi de jiben neirong' ['Basic content of shequ autonomy'], Shequ [Community] 10(20), (2003), p. 22.
41. Lin Shangli, ed., Shequ minzhu yu zhili: anli yanjiu [On Case Studies of Democratic Governance in shequ] (Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2003), p. 36.
42. Ibid., pp. 321-325;
43. Wang Jianmin, Chengshi shequ zhengzhi fazhan [Political Development of Urban shequ] (Beijing: Shehui kexie wenxian chubanshe, 2006), pp. 40-48.
44. Shequ canyu xingdong 2005 niandu baogao [Annual Report 2005 of 'Shequ Participation Action'] (Beijing: Canyushi Information and Consulting Centre, 2006), p. 2.
45. Chen Yi,'Chengshi jiceng minzhu de qidian zaiyu xuanju zhidu de gaige' ['Starting point of urban grassroots elections and the reform of the electoral system'], Shequ [Community] 2(3), (2003), p. 24.
46. Li Rong,'Quanmian tuijin chengshi shequ jianshe yao licu jumin zizhi, shequ zhuban' ['The full implementation of the build-up of urban shequ must be based on the self-administration of the residents and the responsibility of the shequ'], Shequ 8, (2002), p. 9.
47. See e.g. Liang Qidong, ed., Shequ fazhan yanjiu baogao [Research Report on the Development of shequ] (Shenyang: Shenyang chubanshe, 2002), p. 149;
48. Lin Shangli, ed., Shequ minzhu yu zhili, p. 12.
49. Yang Zhangqiao and Ma Lihua,'Chengshi shequ zizhi quanwei de minzhu jiangou' ['Democratic build-up of autonomous rights of urban shequ'], Shehuixue [Sociology] 3, (2004), p. 20.
50. Cf. also Zhang Shuchen,'Shequ zizhi de zuzhi jiagou jiqi dong yunzhuan' ['Organizational structure of shequ autonomy and its driving function'], Shehui [Society] 1, (2005), pp. 50-55.
51. Yu Yanyan, Shequ zizhi yu zhengfu zhineng zhuanbian [Autonomy of shequ and the Transformation of the Role of Government] (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui chubanshe, 2006), p. 87.
52. Xu Xiaojun,'Chengshi shequ zizhi: quanli maodun ji qi xietiao' ['Autonomy of urban shequ: power contradictions and their regulation'], Shehuixue 4, (2005), pp. 74-79.
53. Zhao Hongwen,'Tizhi chuangxin: shequ jianshe de qiangda dongli' ['System innovation: mighty driving force for the build-up of neighbourhood communities'], Zhongguo Minzheng [China's Civil Affairs] 1, (2003), p. 29.
54. Cf. e.g. the lead article of the journal Zhongguo Minzheng 4, (2003)
55. or the journal Shequ 8(15), (2002), pp. 32-33.
56. Zhang Shuchen,'Shequ zizhi de zuzhi jiagou jiqi dong yunzhuan', p. 53.
57. Interview, Shenyang, 14 March 2003.
58. Interview, Shenyang, 14 March 2003.
59. Shequ 1, (2006), p. 10.
60. Conversation with the residents committee of Shangsha neighborhood community, 25 February 2004. According to Renmin Ribao, (30 June 2004), in 2004 Shenzhen was the first Chinese city without villages and a rural population, since all villages had been transformed into shequ.
61. Yang Zhangqiao and Ma Lihua,'Chengshi shequ zizhi quanwei de minzhu jiangou', p. 21.
62. Ulrich Beck, Risk Society (London: Sage, 1992).
63. Cf. Xiaotong Fei, From the Soil. The Foundations of Chinese Society (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1992).
64. Georg Simmel, Philosophie des Geldes (Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1994), pp. 395-415.
65. Hannah Arendt, On Revolution (New York: The Viking Press, 1966), p. 284.
66. Janos Kornai,'Individual freedom and reform of the socialist economy', European Economic Review 32, (1988), pp. 236-237.
67. See Michael Baurmann, Der Markt der Tugend. Recht und Moral in der liberalen Gesellschaft. Eine soziologische Untersuchung (Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1996), pp. 502-510.
68. Cf. e.g. Renmin Ribao, (5 September 2003; 7 July 2004; 20 September 2005).
69. Renmin Ribao, (19 September 2003).
70. Cf. e.g. Renmin Ribao, [9 September 2004 (Dalian); 10 September 2004 (Peking); 11 September 2004 (Shanghai)].
71. Renmin Ribao, (17 June 2004).
72. Meng Gu and Bai Zhigang, Shequ wenhua yu gongmin suzhi, pp. 3-10;
73. Shi Chang and Zhuo Silian, Shequ jiaoyu yu xuexixing shequ [Shequ education and learning shequ] (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui chubanshe, 2006), pp. 127-135;
74. Tang Zhongxin, Goujian hexie shequ [Build-up of Harmonious shequ] (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui chubanshe, 2006), pp. 175-182.
75. Liu Jitong,'Guojia huayu yu shequ shijian: Zhongguo chengshi shequ jianshe mubiao jiedu' ['State utterances and shequ practice: explaining goals of community construction'], Shehui Kexue Yanjiu [Studies of Social Sciences] 3, (2003), p. 105.
76. Liu Lina,'Shequ shi shehui gongde jianshe de zhongyao zaiti' ['Shequ are important carriers of the creation of a social public morale'], Xinan Minzu Xueyuan Xuebao [Journal of the Nationalities Institute Southwest] 9, (2004), pp. 282-285.
77. Renmin Ribao, (3 July 2004; 29 July 2004).
78. Similar attempts were also made during the Republic under Chiang Kai-Shek.
79. Hsin-Chi Kuan and Siu-Kai Lau, 'Traditional orientations and political participation in three Chinese societies', Journal of Contemporary China 11(31), (2002), p. 304.
80. See also: Renmin Ribao, (27 April 2004).
81. Baurmann, Der Markt der Tugend, p. 31.
82. Zhang Huanhua,'Chengshi shequ jumin wei "richang guannian"' ['Everyday thinking of residents in urban shequ'], Shehui 9, (2004), pp. 14-18.
83. Cf. Monika Keller, Wolfgang Edelstein et al.,'Denken über moralische Verpflichtung und interpersonale Verantwortung im Zusammenhang unterschiedlicher Kulturen', in W. Edelstein and Gertrud Nummer-Winkler, eds, Moral im sozialen Kontext (Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 2000), pp. 378-379.
84. Cf. Charles Taylor, The Malaise of Modernity (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992).
85. Amitai Etzioni, The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society (New York: Basic Books, 1996).
86. In social sciences, a distinction is made between internal and external political efficacy. Internal efficacy is predicated upon the belief of individual citizens in their ability to act upon political decision-making processes within the state. External efficacy is related to the individual belief that the institutions and actors in a political system will respond positively to participation and the demands of the citizens that it conveys. As such, internal efficacy refers to people's assessment of their own abilities to influence politics, to their subjective competence for political participation. External efficacy aims to assess the responsiveness of the political system. Therefore, the two components of efficacy represent two different orientations in relation to the role of citizens in political decisionmaking.