Everyday Democracy: Civil Society, Youth, and the Struggle Against Authoritarian Culture in China

Anthony J. Spires

Published by Columbia University Press 2024

Everyday Democracy

Civil Society, Youth, and the Struggle Against Authoritarian Culture in China

Anthony J. Spires

https://doi.org/10.7312/spir21150

About this book

Everyday Democracy is a groundbreaking study of bottom-up organizations in China, arguing that even in an authoritarian state, they nurture the skills and habits of democracy.

Author / Editor information

Anthony J. Spires is a sociologist and associate professor at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies. He is the author of Global Civil Society and China (2024).

Reviews

Bin Xu, author of The Culture of Democracy: A Sociological Approach to Civil Society:
Do civil society associations function as "free schools of democracy" in an undemocratic context? Spires engages this "Tocqueville question" through extensive fieldwork to provide a rigorous, subtle analysis of the culture of democracy and its dilemmas under a powerful authoritarian regime.

Philippe C. Schmitter, professor emeritus, European University Institute:
Everyday Democracy provides new ways to understand the ongoing interaction between civil society organizations and both elected and appointed rulers. This alone makes it a groundbreaking contribution and not just for students of Chinese politics.

Richard Madsen, author of China and the American Dream: A Moral Inquiry:
Based on twenty years of grassroots fieldwork, this book vividly describes how egalitarian, democratic civic cultures develop within voluntary associations even though they are under the mantle of Chinese hegemonic authoritarianism. Spires then connects these observations to a deeper and hopeful understanding of the challenges facing a fragile democratic tradition in the modern world.

Diana Fu, author of Mobilizing Without the Masses: Control and Contention in China:
Through a close, longitudinal study of China’s youth-led civil society that runs counter to existing analyses, Spires demonstrates that democratic culture is emerging on authoritarian soil, in grassroots groups. This is an important contribution not only to China studies but also to the study of political culture.

Elisabeth Clemens, author of Civic Gifts: Voluntarism and the Making of the American Nation-State:
Drawing on decades of research on China’s voluntary associations, Everyday Democracy provides a rich and original analysis of how democratic practices and values develop within an authoritarian regime. By posing familiar questions about democracy in an unfamiliar setting, Anthony J. Spires enriches debates over the importance of civil society in an account that is not only accessible and engaging but also theoretically unsettling and profoundly revelatory.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
PART I. OVERVIEW AND BACKGROUND
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter One. Democracy in China: A Century of Debate Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	16
PART II. THE AUTHORITARIAN STATUS QUO
Chapter Two. Civil Society Under Hegemonic Authoritarianism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
Chapter Three. Struggling to Come Together as Equals Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	64
PART III. YOUTH-LED VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS AS CRUCIBLES OF A DEMOCRATIC COUNTERHEGEMONY
Chapter Four. Rejecting Formalism: Alternative Narratives of Volunteering Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
Chapter Five. Equality as Culture and Practice Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	114
Chapter Six. Handling Differences of Opinion and Building Consensus Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	130
Chapter Seven. Nurturing the Skills and Habits of Democracy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153
Chapter Eight. (S)Electing Leaders Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	188
Chapter Nine. Selecting Newcomers and Screening for Common Values Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
PART IV. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
Conclusion. Implications for Democratic Development in China and Beyond Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	233
APPENDIX: SOME REFLECTIONS ON FIELDWORK, RE-PRESENTATION, AND ETHICS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251
NOTES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	261
REFERENCES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	283
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	297

Language: English
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;

eBook

Published: January 20, 2025
ISBN: 9780231558945

Everyday Democracy

Civil Society, Youth, and the Struggle Against Authoritarian Culture in China

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