Quick questions on Social management and civil society explained: H2 China Studies

Reform transformed Chinese society from the regimented, collective order of the Mao era into something far more diverse and complex. Markets, urbanisation, private enterprise, a middle class, mass migration and new technology created a society with plural interests, rising expectations and many more points of potential friction, over land, labour, the environment, welfare and rights. The old Maoist instruments of total control, the danwei work unit, the commune, no longer organised most people's lives. The Party therefore faced a new challenge: how to maintain control and stability in a society it no longer directly organised, which is the problem "social management" was developed to solve.

One response to the more complex society was the growth of social organisations. Reform allowed, and the state increasingly encouraged, a proliferation of non-governmental and social organisations: charities, foundations, professional associations, community groups, and service providers in areas such as poverty relief, disability, the environment and public health. The state values these groups because they help deliver services and address social needs that the government cannot meet alone, and because they can absorb and channel social energy in constructive ways. In this sense a genuine associational life has emerged, far beyond what existed under Mao, and the state speaks of social organisations as partners in "social governance."

Running alongside the management of social organisations is the apparatus of "stability maintenance" (weiwen): the extensive system of monitoring, policing and pre-empting social unrest. The state devotes very large resources to detecting and containing protests and grievances before they spread, combining surveillance, the security forces, and responsiveness to local complaints. Notably, the regime is often responsive to specific, local grievances, addressing the complaints behind a protest, while being utterly intolerant of any attempt to organise across localities or to frame grievances in political terms. This combination of selective responsiveness and firm repression is the essence of how the Party manages discontent in a complex society.

A balanced evaluation notes the trajectory under Xi Jinping. The space for civil society, never large, has narrowed. Controls on non-governmental organisations tightened, including restrictions on foreign-funded groups; pressure on rights lawyers and activists intensified; and the general reassertion of Party control over society (the principle that "the Party leads everything") extended into the associational sphere. The bounded space for civil society has thus become more tightly bounded, reinforcing the political limit while the service-providing role continues.

Explain the difference between the social organisations the Party tolerates and those it suppresses. [4 marks]

Explain what is meant by "responsive authoritarianism" in China's social management. [12 marks]

"China has a civil society, but not an independent one." How far do you agree? [20 marks]