David Speaks to Goliath: Civil Society Policy Advocacy in China

Mgr. Runya Qiaoan, BA

Doctoral thesis

Abstract:

Many assume that civil society in China is insignificant or almost non-existent. However, recent developments in Chinese civil society might challenge this conventional view. In the past decade, Chinese civil society groups have achieved significant success in their policy advocacy attempts, including policy and law changes on the national level. How can weak civil society groups have such a significant policy impact in an authoritarian state? To answer this question, I engaged in three months of participant observation in an NGO in Beijing and conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with Chinese civil society groups. This fieldwork reveals that there is something particular in the rhetoric and repertoires of the groups who are able to conduct successful policy advocacy in the current Chinese context. I have discovered that the framing strategies and action tactics of effective groups and less effective groups differ to a large extent. However, in contrast to previous studies, I argue it is not these toolkits, but the mechanism of cultural resonance achieved (or not) through the symbolic codes embodied by these toolkits that explains whether advocacy succeeds (or fails). Building on the cultural pragmatic theory of social performance and social movement theory on framing, I conceptualize cultural resonance as a mechanism composed by actors, audiences, background representations and scripts, achieved by meeting the criteria of congruence and relevance. In this research, actors are the civil society groups involved in the policy process. Audiences are the party-state and mainstream society. Background representations are a set of symbolic codes that represent the core meaning system of a society. Scripts are the foreground representations of these symbolic codes, embodied in, for example, political and legal discourse. In the current Chinese context, the dominant symbolic codes derived from the background representations and (audience) scripts are harmony vs. disorder, Chinese vs. foreign, public vs. private, responsibility vs. rights, and development vs. underdevelopment. Cultural resonance is achieved through two channels: congruence, aka frame alignment, and relevance, aka puzzle-solving potential. In other words, there can be an objective level of congruence in actors’ performance and audience scripts in the first place, but this inherent familiarity does not automatically lead to resonance. To achieve cultural resonance, actors must also engage with the challenges their audiences face. It is this puzzle-solving potential, together with the initial cultural congruence, which leads to cultural resonance. Through analyzing eight iconic cases of Chinese civil society group policy advocacy, I show that in the successful cases, civil society actors manage to incorporate the right symbolic codes (the sacred side of the binaries) into their performances, so cultural resonance is achieved; in the unsuccessful cases, the actors embody the wrong symbolic codes into their performances (the profane side of the binaries), so the mechanism of cultural resonance is interrupted. By explaining policy advocacy cases through this framework, the study shows that the result of Chinese civil society interaction with the government is both constrained and enabled by the cultural meaning system in which it is embedded. To be specific, by encoding the symbolic codes embedded in the cultural meaning system identified and promoted by the Chinese government and mainstream society into their performances, these civil society groups achieve cultural resonance with their audiences, contributing to their success. In a society in which civil society organizations lack recognition and support, these groups manage to align their agenda with the concerns of political elites and mainstream society, which endows them with a kind of legitimacy many other civil society groups do not have. This study contributes to the scientific discourse in several ways. Empiri

Abstract:

cally, this study not only contributes to existing research on Chinese civil society with a new theoretical perspective, but it also contributes to current civil society research in general by elaborating the framing process in the policy advocacy of NGOs. Theoretically, the framework itself represents a theoretical innovation that enriches both the cultural pragmatic theory of social performance and social movement theory on framing. To be specific, on the one hand, it further develops the cultural pragmatic theory of social performance by highlighting the role of audiences and explicating thoroughly the process of cultural resonance; on the other hand, it develops social movement theory on framing by transforming the mechanism of “resonance” into “cultural resonance.” Beyond these academic contributions, this study also has real-world significance. Since Chinese President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the space for Chinese civil society has been further shrinking. In this non-receptive political environment, symbolic identification and cultural resonance might be the only vehicles that can carry the civil society agenda to the political core. In other words, carefully acting and framing the civil society agenda to achieve cultural resonance is the best hope for advocates to survive the hostile environment and make incremental changes step-by-step.

Abstract:

Many assume that civil society in China is insignificant or almost non-existent. However, recent developments in Chinese civil society might challenge this conventional view. In the past decade, Chinese civil society groups have achieved significant success in their policy advocacy attempts, including policy and law changes on the national level. How can weak civil society groups have such a significant policy impact in an authoritarian state? To answer this question, I engaged in three months of participant observation in an NGO in Beijing and conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with Chinese civil society groups. This fieldwork reveals that there is something particular in the rhetoric and repertoires of the groups who are able to conduct successful policy advocacy in the current Chinese context. I have discovered that the framing strategies and action tactics of effective groups and less effective groups differ to a large extent. However, in contrast to previous studies, I argue it is not these toolkits, but the mechanism of cultural resonance achieved (or not) through the symbolic codes embodied by these toolkits that explains whether advocacy succeeds (or fails). Building on the cultural pragmatic theory of social performance and social movement theory on framing, I conceptualize cultural resonance as a mechanism composed by actors, audiences, background representations and scripts, achieved by meeting the criteria of congruence and relevance. In this research, actors are the civil society groups involved in the policy process. Audiences are the party-state and mainstream society. Background representations are a set of symbolic codes that represent the core meaning system of a society. Scripts are the foreground representations of these symbolic codes, embodied in, for example, political and legal discourse. In the current Chinese context, the dominant symbolic codes derived from the background representations and (audience) scripts are harmony vs. disorder, Chinese vs. foreign, public vs. private, responsibility vs. rights, and development vs. underdevelopment. Cultural resonance is achieved through two channels: congruence, aka frame alignment, and relevance, aka puzzle-solving potential. In other words, there can be an objective level of congruence in actors’ performance and audience scripts in the first place, but this inherent familiarity does not automatically lead to resonance. To achieve cultural resonance, actors must also engage with the challenges their audiences face. It is this puzzle-solving potential, together with the initial cultural congruence, which leads to cultural resonance. Through analyzing eight iconic cases of Chinese civil society group policy advocacy, I show that in the successful cases, civil society actors manage to incorporate the right symbolic codes (the sacred side of the binaries) into their performances, so cultural resonance is achieved; in the unsuccessful cases, the actors embody the wrong symbolic codes into their performances (the profane side of the binaries), so the mechanism of cultural resonance is interrupted. By explaining policy advocacy cases through this framework, the study shows that the result of Chinese civil society interaction with the government is both constrained and enabled by the cultural meaning system in which it is embedded. To be specific, by encoding the symbolic codes embedded in the cultural meaning system identified and promoted by the Chinese government and mainstream society into their performances, these civil society groups achieve cultural resonance with their audiences, contributing to their success. In a society in which civil society organizations lack recognition and support, these groups manage to align their agenda with the concerns of political elites and mainstream society, which endows them with a kind of legitimacy many other civil society groups do not have. This study contributes to the scientific discourse in several ways. Empiri

Abstract:

cally, this study not only contributes to existing research on Chinese civil society with a new theoretical perspective, but it also contributes to current civil society research in general by elaborating the framing process in the policy advocacy of NGOs. Theoretically, the framework itself represents a theoretical innovation that enriches both the cultural pragmatic theory of social performance and social movement theory on framing. To be specific, on the one hand, it further develops the cultural pragmatic theory of social performance by highlighting the role of audiences and explicating thoroughly the process of cultural resonance; on the other hand, it develops social movement theory on framing by transforming the mechanism of “resonance” into “cultural resonance.” Beyond these academic contributions, this study also has real-world significance. Since Chinese President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the space for Chinese civil society has been further shrinking. In this non-receptive political environment, symbolic identification and cultural resonance might be the only vehicles that can carry the civil society agenda to the political core. In other words, carefully acting and framing the civil society agenda to achieve cultural resonance is the best hope for advocates to survive the hostile environment and make incremental changes step-by-step.

Keywords

civil society, non-governmental organization, policy advocacy, China, cultural resonance, social performance, cultural sociology, social movement theory

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 24. 4. 2018

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 12. 9. 2018
• Supervisor: prof. Steven Saxonberg, Ph.D.
• Reader: Dr. H. Christoph Steinhardt, DR Anthony J. Spires

Masaryk University

Faculty of Social Studies

Doctoral programme / field:
Sociology (4-years) / Sociology (Eng.)