Event description
International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) have played an essential role in the emergence and development of Chinese civil society. However, the way and extent of INGO influence on the Chinese civil society are not only shaped by the programs and strategies on the part of INGOs per se. The government of China, on the other hand, demarcates the space for INGO action in the country. The government can exercise control on the domestic CSOs and on the INGOs at the same time, shaping how efforts of civil society promotion play out in this specific context. Moreover, the role of the government does not remain static. Instead, the government has demonstrated varied openness towards INGOs across time. Concepts prevailing in the existing literature, such as authoritarianism, repressive environment, and state crackdown, fail to capture these cross-temporal changes in the government’s role, as they imply the government to be invariably restrictive. A more nuanced analysis is needed regarding the intensity, scope, and mechanisms of pressure that host government puts forth against INGOs operating in a domestic realm. This chapter fills this gap by unpacking the changing role of the Chinese government in shaping the space for INGO action, which sheds light on the politics of civil society building in China and beyond. Empirical analysis of this chapter starts from 1978 when contemporary China began to allow in INGOs under the reform and opening-up policy. It distinguishes the periods before and after 2013 when the new administration commenced and moved to consolidate its disciplining role against INGOs. It is argued in this paper that INGOs are embedded in a reconfigured space for action in the post-2013 period, in which compliance with the governmental demands and expectations becomes increasingly critical to INGOs’ survival and activity in the country.
about the speakers
Xinyu is a doctoral researcher of the project “Coherence or Contestation: Chinese, Japanese and Russian Approaches to the Transformation of Peacebuilding Practices” at CCDP since October 2018, where she has conducted extensive research on Chinese engagement in post-conflict and fragile contexts and interviewed more than 20 scholars and practitioners on the topic in Beijing, Shanghai and Geneva. She was invited to present at the 2019 International Network on Conflict and Fragility (INCAF) of OECD and the 2020 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development. Prior to CCDP, she worked at the Global Governance Center of the Graduate Institute (2017-2018), a policy research team for the Bureau of Civil Affairs of Zhejiang province (2016-2017), a research center on Chinese charitable trust (July-September 2014) and an environment NGO in Hangzhou, China (July-August 2012).
Anna Leander will act as discussant. She is Professor of International Relations/Political Science at the Graduate Institute. You can find her full profile here.
About the CCDP Seminars Series
Each semester, CCDP hosts a series of internal seminars to give our faculty, staff and affiliates the opportunity to present their work and receive feedback. The goal of the seminars is to have an informal and frank conversation about the paper presented, and exchange ideas across disciplines and expertise, going beyond academic silos. Speakers at the seminars are both early career and senior scholars.
Augusta Nannerini and Elio Panese are organizing the seminars for the academic year 2021-2022. For further information, get in touch at augusta.nannerini@graduateinstitute.ch or elio.panese@graduateinstitute.ch
PLEASE NOTE: Access to indoor public events is limited to attendees with a Swiss or European COVID certificate. In addition, face masks must be worn to all in-person events at the Graduate Institute.