Official Governance and Self-governance: The Reconstruction of Grassroots Social Order in China

ISBN-13: 9789811966002 / Angielski / Twarda / 2022 / 351 str.

Qingzhi Zhou

Opis

This book offers a new interpretation of the evolution and modernization of social order in China’s grass-roots communities. Traditionally, social order at the grass-roots level was maintained through an organic combination of self-rule by the people and authority rule by political leaders. As a hybrid form of social order, therefore, it not only has features of autonomy but also reflects the power of the state apparatus. Despite the modernization of the nation-state, the old rules sustaining social order at the grass-roots level are still very much in effect and have seamlessly integrated into the new social structure. Unless we fully appreciate this fundamental continuity, we would not be able to understand how social order at the grass-roots level today is upheld and functions. And the modernization of social order at the grass-roots level is most fruitfully studied from the perspectives of the construction of modern public social relations and the development of grass-roots systems of social autonomy.

Spis treści

Part I The Transformation of Traditional Grassroots Social Order and Significance of Its Modern Construction.- Chapter One The Cognitive Paradigms for Understanding Traditional Grassroots Social Order.- Chapter Two Rules of Order: Structure of Social Authorities at the Grassroots.- Chapter Three The Structure of Social Order and the Relationship Between Society and State.- Chapter Four Grassroots Governance by Local Government Clerks and Runners and Its Modern Transformation: Social Restructuring and Remolding of Social Order.- Chapter Five The Significance of Modern Construction of Grassroots Social Order.- Part II The Contemporary Authority Structure and Governance System of Grassroots Social Order.- Chapter Six The Historical Basis of the Governance Order in Rural Society.- Chapter Seven Finance and Governance (1): The Nature of Government Power and Its Boundaries.- Chapter Eight Finance and Governance (2): The Significance of Public Finance Restructuring at the Grassroots for Social Governance Transformation.- Chapter Nine Rules and Order: The Transformation of Grassroots Social Governance.- Chapter Ten Grassroots Public Political Culture.- Chapter Eleven Forms of Rights for Members of the Rural Society: From Primary Community to State-Based Community.- Chapter Twelve The Rights Distribution System for Urban Residents.- Chapter Thirteen Social Organizations in Historical and Social Contexts.- Chapter Fourteen Documentary Governance: How Authority Is Exercised and Its Significance for Order and Rules.- Chapter Fifteen Co-Governance by Officials and the People.- Chapter Sixteen Restructuring Order: Forty Years of Grassroots Governance Reform in China.

 

O autorze

Qingzhi Zhou is Doctor of Laws, Director and Researcher of the Research Office of Political Culture of the Institute of Political Science, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. His research areas include political sociology, social anthropology and history. His monographs include: The County-level Administrative Structure of China and Its Operation: A Sociological Survey of County W, Grassroots Social Autonomy of China, County Politics: Authority, Resources, and Order, Between the Government and the Society: Issues of Grassroots Governance. Over 100 of his papers have been published in a wide range of academic journals such as Journal of Political Science, Journal of Nanjing University, Journal of Wuhan University, Journal of Central China Normal University, and more than 50 have been reprinted in Xinhua Digest, Chinese Social Science Digest and others.

Blurb

This book offers a new interpretation of the evolution and modernization of social order in China’s grass-roots communities. Traditionally, social order at the grass-roots level was maintained through an organic combination of self-rule by the people and authority rule by political leaders. As a hybrid form of social order, therefore, it not only has features of autonomy but also reflects the power of the state apparatus. Despite the modernization of the nation-state, the old rules sustaining social order at the grass-roots level are still very much in effect and have seamlessly integrated into the new social structure. Unless we fully appreciate this fundamental continuity, we would not be able to understand how social order at the grass-roots level today is upheld and functions. And the modernization of social order at the grass-roots level is most fruitfully studied from the perspectives of the construction of modern public social relations and the development of grass-roots systems of social autonomy. This book will be invaluable for theorists of Chinese political economy, researchers of sustainable development and village economies, and researchers trying to explore the impacts of climate change on Chinese village structures.