Routledge Studies on China in Transition, 48. London; New York: Routledge, 2016. xiv, 202 pp. (Tables, figures.) US$155.00, cloth. ISBN 978-1-138-90997-7.
China has witnessed a great increase in the number of NGOs over the last two decades in particular. These NGOs operate in a wide range of areas, from education and poverty alleviation, to community development and environmental issues, which provide some new elements in support of China’s social development and also suggests a possible turning point in China’s state-society paradigm and relations (1).
This book seeks to examine the evolution of China’s NGOs based on Chinese political and economic contexts, as well as to analyse cases from different perspectives. Briefly, the book has three main focuses: the conceptualizations and subsequent functions of NGOs; state-NGO engagement; and NGOs as mediators between state and society (6–7). Given the current political and economic situation in China, the success in resolving social issues will mostly depend on how well multiple-layer authorities treat the presence and innovations of NGOs. Thus, this book should be viewed also as part of a long-lasting and never-ending story of Chinese contemporary narratives of state-society relations and the subtle pro or con tensions in civil democratic development in China.
The first three chapters (by Hsu, Gao and Xia, and Shieh, respectively) focus on the emergence and evolution of NGOs in contemporary China, and explain the essence and categories of interactions between the local state and NGOs. In particular, through contextualizing the case of rural-urban labour migration, Jennifer Y.J. Hsu’s chapter frames the discussion on state-NGO relations by arguing the need to understand how local states influence the development of NGOs (10–26).
Next, Gao and Xia place the NGO sector within the broader framework of civil society. They theorize the NGO from the perspective of three social sectors and organizational processes (33). Their chapter highlights the utility of the civil society concept in China, and its application in understanding local state and NGO interactions (34). Shieh’s chapter looks at state-NGO relations through a modal analysis of trends in the NGO sector. He maps the dynamics of civil society in China. Affected by social movements, Shieh argues that the dominant mode in China’s NGO sector was moving away from regulation, contrary to the popular stereotype that state-NGO relations are best characterized by state corporatist arrangements and that China’s civil society is actually state-led (46), asserting that they do not offer a full understanding of the diversity of state-NGO interactions in China. In sum, this section provides a theoretical framework and base of analysis for the book’s subsequent discussions.
The following chapters (by Teets and Jagusztyn, and Heurlin) consider not only the current role of Chinese NGOs locally, but how perceptions and expectations of NGOs are changing domestically, beyond past perspectives (8). Teets and Jagusztyn’s chapter discusses a new collaborative model of governing NGOs—one that incorporates recent local state outsourcing of social services delivery to NGOs. Due to economic reforms, the governance model also changes (71), leading to more diverse organizational and NGO forms. Heurlin asks us to pause and consider the development of the NGO sector from a trust perspective, mostly from the institutional perspective. He strongly suggests that not only the government but the general public has a huge role to play in determining the function and legitimacy of the modern NGO, and that authoritarian political culture has exerted a mixed influence, and changed over different periods (104).
The book’s final chapters (by Hasmath and Jennifer Y.J. Hsu, Hildebrandt, Thornton, and Carolyn L. Hsu) propose different possibilities and futures for NGOs in China. Hasmath and Jennifer Y. J. Hsu present a fantastic conceptual framework. They propose a survey and methodological design and explain a lack of local state and NGO engagements. As for the sensitive issue of state-society relations, it is imperative to examine and measure the extent to which strategic ignorance on the part of the local state is used as a deliberate tactic to allow and disallow collaboration with NGOs (119). Hildebrandt’s chapter provides insight into what occurs once NGOs have achieved their aims, which touches at the root of society-NGO interaction. The final chapters, by Thornton and Carolyn L. Hsu, demonstrate the involvement of PONGOs (party-organized NGO) and GONGOs (government-organized NGO), respectively. Both authors ponder the future activities of PONGOs and GONGOs at the local state level and their impact on the development of NGOs. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) definitely plays the most important role in China’s social and political-economic contexts. Both authors believe that NGO development independent of the Party leads only to social fragmentation, and the splintering of society into myriad interest groups working at cross-purposes (142), which in turn leads to new trends in the CCP absorbing social interests to develop into a learning party. All of this sheds light on our understanding of the tensions and dilemmas between the CCP and NGOs.
In sum, as China is increasingly integrated into the global system, the pressure to acknowledge and engage with NGOs will rise. And the authoritarian political and particular economic context makes this task more difficult. Despite this book’s numerous insights, it also has some limitations. For example, it is universally admitted that the CCP and party-state system are keys to understanding social and economic changes in China, so it is important to pay more attention to explaining the CCP’s policy changes and its organizational evolution. Without such an analysis, our understandings of NGOs in China will be incomplete. Also, a more detailed study of how domestic NGOs and international NGOs interact through concrete mechanisms should be added since China now plays an important role in globalization.
All in all, this book clearly provides readers a chance to learn about NGOs in China. Not only does it provide a detailed picture of the development and future trends of China’s NGOs, it shows in vivid detail the matrices and networks connected with NGOs. It also presents scholars with approaches and directions to pursue in future studies. In this way, this is a thought-provoking and intriguing study and as such should be read by any student of Chinese politics or NGOs.
Dingding Chen
Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
pp. 787-789