KSCB709 Chinese Society and NGOs

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025

The course is not taught in Spring 2025

Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Runya Qiaoan, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Lucie Olivová, MA, Ph.D., DSc.
Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. et Mgr. Dušan Vávra, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites (in Czech)
TYP_STUDIA(N)
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This course aims to familiar students with the civil society in China, especially the development of NGOs in recent years. It starts with exploring the concept of civil society and its application to China, then discusses the political, economic and cultural background of Chinese civil society, and it ends with presenting various embodiments of civil society in China, such as NGOs, social movements and mass media.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
-understand the benefits and limitations of using the term “civil society” to discuss the changes in contemporary Chinese society;
-explain the political, economic and cultural background of Chinese civil society;
-recognize different types of NGOs in China and their relations with the state;
-understand the development of NGOs, social movement and mass media in contemporary China.
Syllabus
  • Week 1 Introduction
  • No reading
  • Week 2 Civil Society: history, context and current interpretations
  • Reading:
  • Jeffrey C. Alexander. “Real Civil Societies: Dilemmas of Institutionalization” Pp. 23-36. in Civil Sphere. UK: Oxford University Press.
  • Week 3 Civil Society in China: how far can the concept travel?
  • Reading:
  • Spires, Anthony J. "Contingent symbiosis and civil society in an authoritarian state: Understanding the survival of China’s grassroots NGOs." American Journal of Sociology 117.1 (2011): 1-45.
  • Hsu, Carolyn. "Beyond civil society: An organizational perspective on state–NGO relations in the People's Republic of China." Journal of Civil Society 6.3 (2010): 259-277.
  • Week 4 Political Background of Chinese Civil Society
  • Reading:
  • Mertha, Andrew. "“Fragmented authoritarianism 2.0”: Political pluralization in the Chinese policy process." The China Quarterly 200 (2009): 995-1012.
  • Hsu, Carolyn, and Jessica Teets. "Is China's new overseas NGO management law sounding the death knell for civil society? Maybe not." Asia Pacific Journal 14 (2016): 1-14
  • Week 5 Economic Background of Chinese Civil Society
  • Reading:
  • Liew, Leong. "China's engagement with neo-liberalism: Path dependency, geography and party self-reinvention." The Journal of Development Studies 41.2 (2005): 331-352.
  • Spires, Anthony J., Lin Tao, and Kin-man Chan. "Societal support for China’s grass-roots NGOs: Evidence from Yunnan, Guangdong and Beijing." The China Journal 71 (2014): 65-90.
  • Week 6 Cultural Background of Chinese Civil Society
  • Reading:
  • Zhao, Dingxin. "Theorizing the role of culture in social movements: Illustrated by protests and contentions in modern China." Social Movement Studies 9.1 (2010): 33-50.
  • Week 7 Embodiment of Civil Society in China: NGOs
  • Reading:
  • Zhou, Huiquan. "Mapping the level of development of grassroots NPOs in China." VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 27.5 (2016): 2199-2228.
  • Week 8 Service-oriented NGOs in China
  • Reading:
  • Hsu, Jennifer YJ, and Reza Hasmath. "The local corporatist state and NGO relations in China." Journal of Contemporary China 23.87 (2014): 516-534.
  • Week 9 Advocacy-oriented NGOs in China
  • Reading:
  • Dai, Jingyun, and Anthony J. Spires. "Advocacy in an Authoritarian State: How Grassroots Environmental NGOs Influence Local Governments in China." The China Journal79.1 (2018): 62-83.
  • Week 10 NGO-state Relations in China
  • Reading:
  • Xiaoguang, Kang, and Han Heng. "Graduated controls: The state-society relationship in contemporary China." Modern China 34.1 (2008): 36-55.
  • Teets, Jessica C. "Let many civil societies bloom: The rise of consultative authoritarianism in China." The China Quarterly 213 (2013): 19-38.
  • Week 11 Protests and Social Movements in China
  • Reading:
  • Lagerkvist, Johan. "The Unknown Terrain of Social Protests in China:‘Exit',‘Voice',‘Loyalty', and ‘Shadow’." Journal of Civil Society 11.2 (2015): 137-153.
  • Week 12 Mass Media and Other Public Sphere in China
  • Reading:
  • Repnikova, Maria, and Kecheng Fang. "Authoritarian Participatory Persuasion 2.0: Netizens as Thought Work Collaborators in China." Journal of Contemporary China(2018): 1-17.
Assessment methods
1) Attendance and active participation in class discussion are required. 1 absence allowed during semester.
2) Position papers on reading assignments
Students are required to submit position papers every week based on required reading assignments. This adds up to a total of eleven essays throughout the semester. Each position paper should be about 300-500 words.
3) Class presentation
Each student will orally present one position paper and lead the discussion in class. Presentations will be assigned in advance.
4) Final paper:
The final paper should be around 7 pages (standard word document, 1.5 lines) and examine a topic related to the theme of this course.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is taught: in blocks.
Note related to how often the course is taught: Blokově v několika termínech za semestr - bude upřesněno.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2017, Spring 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/KSCB709