The Death and Life of Chinese Civil Society
The Death and Life of Chinese Civil Society examines how a group of Chinese intellectual elites referred to as the liberals or ziyou pai edified the civil society project beginning in the 1990s to build an independent space to constrain state power, increase political participation, and promote Chin...
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| Materyal Türü: | Online |
| Dil: | İngilizce |
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Michigan State University Press
2026
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| Online Erişim: | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/110236 |
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| _version_ | 1869526280632795136 |
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| author | Zhou, Mujun |
| author_browse | Zhou, Mujun |
| author_facet | Zhou, Mujun |
| author_sort | Zhou, Mujun |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | The Death and Life of Chinese Civil Society examines how a group of Chinese intellectual elites referred to as the liberals or ziyou pai edified the civil society project beginning in the 1990s to build an independent space to constrain state power, increase political participation, and promote China’s democratization. In the early 2000s, activists in movements such as the environmental and the AIDS movements identified with the liberals and regarded their activism as part of the project of building civil society. However, since the late 2000s the liberals’ influence has gradually declined. In prominent social movements in the 2010s such as the labor and feminist movements, activists have openly criticized the liberal interpretation of civil society and regarded liberals’ civil society agenda as irrelevant. Mujun Zhou employs the concept of interstitial space, or the space where the exercise of power has not been fully institutionalized, to examine the history of the civil society project over the past three decades and its changing relationship with other social movements. Zhou suggests that by advocating for civil society the liberals gained allies and thematized many social problems rising during China’s economic reform; however, liberals’ activism also produced new forms of power inequalities. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-173014 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Michigan State University Press |
| publisherStr | Michigan State University Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1730142026-03-01T06:09:21Z The Death and Life of Chinese Civil Society Zhou, Mujun Civil society Public sphere China Democracy Interstitial space Interstitial emergence Institutionalization Authoritarian state Public intellectuals Liberal intellectuals Liberalism New left Ideology Ideational movement Social movement Labor movement Feminist movement Environmental movement Homeowners' movement New rural reconstruction movement Weiquan NGOs Critical media Critical journalists Grassroots organizations Youth activists Southern Weekly Institute of Civil Society Open Constitute Initiative thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies The Death and Life of Chinese Civil Society examines how a group of Chinese intellectual elites referred to as the liberals or ziyou pai edified the civil society project beginning in the 1990s to build an independent space to constrain state power, increase political participation, and promote China’s democratization. In the early 2000s, activists in movements such as the environmental and the AIDS movements identified with the liberals and regarded their activism as part of the project of building civil society. However, since the late 2000s the liberals’ influence has gradually declined. In prominent social movements in the 2010s such as the labor and feminist movements, activists have openly criticized the liberal interpretation of civil society and regarded liberals’ civil society agenda as irrelevant. Mujun Zhou employs the concept of interstitial space, or the space where the exercise of power has not been fully institutionalized, to examine the history of the civil society project over the past three decades and its changing relationship with other social movements. Zhou suggests that by advocating for civil society the liberals gained allies and thematized many social problems rising during China’s economic reform; however, liberals’ activism also produced new forms of power inequalities. 2026-03-01T06:09:17Z 2026-03-01T06:09:17Z 2026-02-28T19:53:20Z 2026 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/110236 9780472905461 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/173014 eng China Understandings Today open access Michigan State University Press University of Michigan Press 10.3998/mpub.14408227 10.3998/mpub.14408227 aa7f6664-5117-41d8-90f8-c3af56526b92 9780472905461 University of Michigan Press 286 open access |
| spellingShingle | Civil society Public sphere China Democracy Interstitial space Interstitial emergence Institutionalization Authoritarian state Public intellectuals Liberal intellectuals Liberalism New left Ideology Ideational movement Social movement Labor movement Feminist movement Environmental movement Homeowners' movement New rural reconstruction movement Weiquan NGOs Critical media Critical journalists Grassroots organizations Youth activists Southern Weekly Institute of Civil Society Open Constitute Initiative thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies Zhou, Mujun The Death and Life of Chinese Civil Society |
| title | The Death and Life of Chinese Civil Society |
| title_full | The Death and Life of Chinese Civil Society |
| title_fullStr | The Death and Life of Chinese Civil Society |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Death and Life of Chinese Civil Society |
| title_short | The Death and Life of Chinese Civil Society |
| title_sort | death and life of chinese civil society |
| topic | Civil society Public sphere China Democracy Interstitial space Interstitial emergence Institutionalization Authoritarian state Public intellectuals Liberal intellectuals Liberalism New left Ideology Ideational movement Social movement Labor movement Feminist movement Environmental movement Homeowners' movement New rural reconstruction movement Weiquan NGOs Critical media Critical journalists Grassroots organizations Youth activists Southern Weekly Institute of Civil Society Open Constitute Initiative thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies |
| topic_facet | Civil society Public sphere China Democracy Interstitial space Interstitial emergence Institutionalization Authoritarian state Public intellectuals Liberal intellectuals Liberalism New left Ideology Ideational movement Social movement Labor movement Feminist movement Environmental movement Homeowners' movement New rural reconstruction movement Weiquan NGOs Critical media Critical journalists Grassroots organizations Youth activists Southern Weekly Institute of Civil Society Open Constitute Initiative thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies |
| url | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/110236 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zhoumujun thedeathandlifeofchinesecivilsociety AT zhoumujun deathandlifeofchinesecivilsociety |