Head of a Neighborhood Association, Shanghai
China 2001: Butler University/Freeman Foundation Student-Faculty Fieldwork Trip
Modified 26 September 2001
Head of a Neighborhood Association, Shanghai
Jeffrey S. Payne
Political Science, Butler University
The People's Space: Creating Civil Society in Globalized China
Winds of change have drastically changed the People’s Republic of China over the past twenty years. In 1978, China officially opened its doors to global exchange. Almost instantly the transfer of capital, technologies, and ideas overwhelmed China. The militaristic qualities of the state became increasingly vital to the efficiency of the state, as new sectors were born that seemingly threatened state authority. Much of the state’s obsession for control was directed towards the segments of agency that act independently from the state, but operate under the credo of civil service. This segment of society, referred to as civil society, was effectively weeded out of the Chinese story for the past several decades, but now as globalization has firmly rooted itself within China there is a real possibility that civil society could emerge within China’s industrial labor class. A range of topics such as Chinese state corporatism, the impact of foreign businesses inside China, the interpretation of civil society in a Chinese cultural context, and the ability for any labor organization to gain agency will be investigated. Emerging from these topics will be the conclusion that civil society must be redefined for a Chinese context. The creation of Chinese industrial labor unions does not precipitate that complete autonomy from state authority must occur, but rather these unions and eventually civil society as a whole could operate under pseudo-autonomy. A political environment where the state allows for unions to truly represent their constituents and unions seek to be included within the state bureaucratic system must be sought out. Only then will there be any possibility of forming cooperation between the forces of the state and civil society and for the existence of civil society to firmly root itself within Chinese culture.