The Ideas of Civil Society in Mainland China and Taiwan, 1986–92
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23239441 |
|---|---|
| Authors | B He (0000-0001-8098-9223, Deakin University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Pages | 197-239 |
| Publication date | 2010-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | State and Civil Society (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | World Scientific (PUBLISHER • SG) |
| DOI | 10.1142/9789814313582_0008 |
| OpenAlex | W2485328687 |
| ISBN | 9789814313582 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
The idea of civil society has been the source of contested debates, and has been a dominant discourse in recent Chinese political and ideological life since the late 1980s both in mainland China and Taiwan. The paper describes and explains the emergence and transformation of the ideas of civil society. It analyzes political innovations associated with, and democratic implications of, the conceptual changes of civil society both in mainland China and Taiwan. These conceptual changes can be identified as a shift from the idea of the totalitarian society to the liberal idea of civil society before June 4, 1989, to the antagonist model of civil society as a democratic strategy among some intellectuals overseas after 1989, and then to the mutual support model between the state and civil society since 1992 in mainland China. These changes also involve a shift from the antagonist model of civil society, which was popular in 1986–87, to the Habermasian version of civil society on Taiwan.The discourse on civil society in both Taiwan and mainland China seems to support, confirm and reinforce the key element of the liberal idea of civil society, that is, the necessity of the normative distinction of the state from civil society. It also demonstrates that it is dangerous to believe that all the problems, and all the solutions lie within the body of civil society; the idea of civil society alone cannot offer a solution to all the problems. We need to turn for help from the democratic ideas of constitutionalism, citizenship, and the rule of law; above all, civil society itself has to be democratized.
Archaeology · China · Civil society · Geography · Mainland · Mainland China · Political science · Politics · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Chinese history and philosophy · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Law
Pre‐ and post‐Tiananmen conceptual evolution of democracy in intellectual circles’ rethinking of state and society
Broadcasting policy, creative compliance and the myth of civil society in China
Nonprofit-Government Relations in Authoritarian China
Redefining Chinese citizenship
A conceptual framework on modes of governance for the regeneration of Chinese ‘villages in the city’
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,18 |
| Citation span | 1998 - 2021 (24) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |