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Liberalization and Liberalization and Authoritarianism Authoritarianism
in Contemporary Chinain Contemporary China
What Are the Facets of This What Are the Facets of This Complex Social Revolution? Complex Social Revolution?
Decollectivization movement Freedom of movement Property rights movement Economic entrepreneurialism Information revolution (especially via the
Internet) A multifaceted sexual revolution Religious movements Vast, far-reaching international influences
Transgression: Although apolitical in appearance, grassroots movements have profound political implications and have fundamentally altered key elements of China’s party-state regime and society at large. Personal liberties Non-elite are the main actors Linkage with professionals
(especially media and lawyers) Mothers’ right to choose
Features Of Grassroots Liberalization Features Of Grassroots Liberalization MovementsMovementsWith the exception of the religious movement,
grassroots resistance began as a spontaneous, unorganized, leaderless, non-ideological, apolitical movement.
Grassroots Decollectivization Grassroots Decollectivization Movements Movements
and and Baochan Daohu Baochan Daohu 1959-1961: The Great Leap Famine 1977-1982: Baochan daohu (contracting output
to the household) Corruption helped to destroy the commune
system. “Please let me farm by myself,” Farmer Sun told
local village officials. “I will give you both the state and collective quotas.”
Baochan DaohuBaochan Daohu : A Kind of : A Kind of Bird FluBird Flu
“When one family’s chicken catches the disease, the whole village catches it. When one village has it, the whole county will be infected.”
By 1982, more than 90% of rural people were engaged in the household production system.
Powerful backing from top leaders helped to institutionalize the decollectivization.
1979 onwards: The rise of the free market Rural industrialization
Freedom of MovementFreedom of Movement 150 million to 200 million migrants Enhanced opportunities for social and
commercial interaction The largest civil disobedience movement
against caste-like hukou system of household registration.
The rise of free labor market Three Chinas: Urbanization,
markets, informal economy
Free Enterprise And Freedom Of Free Enterprise And Freedom Of ContractContract
Entrepreneurship and market development Corruption is still the price of freedom in China. Diversified ownership structure reduces dependence
on state 30% state, 40% non-state, 25% private, 5%
foreign 1993: 83% of “collective” firms were in fact private. Conditions for the freedom of mobility, competitive
printing, and the rise of freelance journalists The decline of danwei (urban work unit), the
people’s implicit social contract with the government
Private Property and the New Private Property and the New Middle ClassMiddle Class
A new Chinese dream: 80% of Chinese people now own their own homes.
The rise of new landlords
The Property Rights MovementThe Property Rights Movement In 2003, 1730 petitions filed against the
state and 350,000 legal cases against forced eviction
Information RevolutionInformation Revolution(1980 onwards)(1980 onwards)
Underground publication and private printing houses
Informal publications Pirated music tapes, CDs, and DVDs Advertisements Apolitical media content Pluralism in publication
Strategies To Circumvent Strategies To Circumvent CensorshipCensorship
Buying and selling of ISBN numbers, which constitute a governmental imprimatur.
“Yidibaodao ” reporters in one locality give forbidden news to counterparts in a second locality.
Internet and cell phones
Decline of the Party Line in the Decline of the Party Line in the MediaMedia Rise of subsidiary party newspapers (zibao)
Market-generated income has helped to detach media from slavish adherence to the state.
Investigative reporting Depoliticization of Chinese media: More than
2,000 newspapers, 8,000 magazines, 374 television stations, 250 million Internet users and 600 million cell phones.
Government Limits On Press Government Limits On Press FreedomFreedom
New mixture of party mouth-pieces and commercial media
Censorship continues The Internet police Banning political blogs 30 journalists and 50
cyber-dissidents in prison
Despite these restrictions, the government can no longer assert complete control over Chinese people’s access to information.
Sexual liberation in China is linked to the rise of cosmopolitan culture and plays a key role in the demise of Chinese communist ideology.
Women’s Liberation and Sexual Women’s Liberation and Sexual LibertyLiberty
Today, more than 86% of Chinese have had premarital sex.
Widespread extramarital living arrangements The erna (mistress) issue
Mu Zimei, the so-called Chinese Madonna, posted online the detailed notes of her sexual encounters with 52 men.
Non-Traditional Sexual ActivitiesNon-Traditional Sexual Activities
Open marriage clubs Temporary spouse-swapping The right to organize private activities
Emergence of a Gay Identity in Emergence of a Gay Identity in ChinaChina
Gay bars, nightclubs, and private clubs
Going mainstream Lesbian (or “la la”) bars
Undermining the Communist State and
Old Traditions Attack on traditional
marriage Death of the puritanical
communism of Mao Zedong Appropriated terms:
touliang huanzhu (steal the beams and pillars and replace them with rotten timber) For example, new meaning of
“comrade”
Religious MovementReligious Movement
Packed churches Underground Informal House churches
Global Influences Global Influences Global markets Information, media, capital and
technology The cell phone, the MP3,
the Internet, and the television Hong Kong/Taiwan Foreign NGOs
Foreign Trade as a Percentage of Foreign Trade as a Percentage of Chinese GDPChinese GDP
Foreigners contribute more than 60% of China’s GDP
Popular Support for Popular Support for LiberalizationLiberalization
66% of Chinese desire increased media freedom
71% believe that “people should have the right to read whatever is on the Internet.”
92% support competition in the global economy China is one of the leading nations of East Asia
that supports open markets, deregulation, and globalization
How Critical Mass Is Formed How Critical Mass Is Formed Market development Individualism/hedonistic consumers The new middle class More people work outside the state Relative free access to information Technology: Internet and cell phones Global linkages
Two Chinas: The Rise of Parallel Two Chinas: The Rise of Parallel Societies Societies
By parallel societies, we mean two different social realities —the state on the one hand and the people (society) on the other: Two sources of information—state vs. non-
state Two separate economies—state vs. market Two different mindsets—state vs. individuals
Grassroots movements have reshaped China’s political realm
Limits of the Grassroots Limits of the Grassroots Liberalization MovementLiberalization Movement
Institutionalization problems: rule of law is not upheld.
Politicized market economy: institutional certainty and predictability remain underdeveloped, especially for domestic entrepreneurs and the middle class.
Lack of unifying support across different movements
Limits of the Grassroots Limits of the Grassroots Liberalization Movement Liberalization Movement
Despite the widespread liberalization, hypernationalism continues to prevail.
2003 anti-American protests2005 anti-Japanese protests2008 anti-Tibet protest
Many Chinese Regard Tibetans Many Chinese Regard Tibetans As UngratefulAs Ungrateful
Hostile rhetoric, nationwide demonstrations, and the silenced voices of dissent are reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution.
Reexamine Chinese history: past diversity before Qin Dynasty.
Possible Scenarios for China’s Possible Scenarios for China’s Future:Future:
#1 - The Rise of Chinese #1 - The Rise of Chinese FascismFascism The rise of hypernationalism
Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong—traditional Chinese imperialism
Possible Scenarios for China’s Possible Scenarios for China’s Future:Future:
#2 - #2 - The Status Quo or The Status Quo or Internal Party Democratization?Internal Party Democratization?
Resilient authoritarianism Leninist party-state
Meiji Japan, Bismarck’s Germany, South Korea, Taiwan and Putin’s Russia as examples
Internal party democratization (Cheng Li)
Possible Scenarios for China’s Possible Scenarios for China’s Future:Future:
#3 - Chinese Federalism#3 - Chinese FederalismDe facto economic federalism: China’s size and economic structure widely differing outcomes:
Hong Kong, Taiwan, MacauTibet, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang
Embrace multicultural identities
Self-reflection and learning from the past
Dalai Lama’s Prediction for Dalai Lama’s Prediction for the Futurethe Future
“The ‘only future’ for China is democracy, the rule of law, freedom of the press, religious freedom, and the free flow of information. China's future depends on these factors.”