Selective use of political opportunity
A case of environmental protest in rural China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6153003 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Y Deng (0000-0001-9017-9005, Nanjing University, corresponding author), J Benney (0000-0002-6972-9591, Monash University) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 91-105 |
| Publication date | 2017-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Chinese Governance (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2381-2354 • E-ISSN: 2381-2346 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/23812346.2017.1286791 |
| OpenAlex | W2588377005 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 20 |
This paper explores the selective and instrumental use of political opportunity in Chinese contentious politics through the study of a rural environmental protest. By considering the transmission of political opportunity through different levels of government, it also analyses the phenomenon of leakage of political opportunity. We argue that political opportunities can be divided into soft and hard types, which are weighted differently by activists. In the protest we examine, the villagers had various political opportunities at their disposal. They used them selectively, preferring the opportunities arising from changes to land policy, which were relatively hard and had a higher level of operability than environmental political opportunities—despite their grievances being largely connected with environmental damage. The hard, land-oriented opportunities, however, went through a process of leakage and then became merely symbolic, due to the local government’s manipulation of policy implementation. However, although they were well aware that the symbolic political opportunities were not genuine, the protesters still acted as if they were real and exploited them instrumentally
China · Economics · Government (linguistics · Leakage (economics · Operability · Phenomenon · Political economy · Political opportunity · Political science · Politics · Social movement · Sociology · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Chinese history and philosophy · Engineering · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Law
Inviting women's rebellion
Collective Resistance in China
Inside Bureaucracy
The New Transnational Activism
Rightful Resistance in Rural China
Disaggregating the State
Framing political opportunity
Conceptual origins, current problems, future direction
Societies of Senior Citizens and Popular Protest in Rural Zhejiang
Repression Backfires
The People vs. Pollution
Democracy and disorder
Selective Policy Implementation in Rural China
Power Structure and Regime Resilience
Structural Opportunity and Perceived Opportunity in Social-Movement Theory
Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930-1970
Missed Opportunities
How Do Political Opportunities Matter for Social Movements
Movements and media
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2024 (4) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |