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China's Twitter-like micro-blogs, or weibo, have exploded in popularity since their launch in late 2009, and already have over 300 million users. From sparking investigations of a contentious train crash to uncovering official malfeasance, many Western and Chinese observers have credited China's weibo with hastening the arrival of mass participation in Chinese governance. The end result, they argue, is that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s tight grip on China's media landscape will inevitably loosen, foretelling major political and social changes. Using a mixed-methods combination of mini-case studies, fieldwork, interviews and a series of large-scale computer-assisted content analysis, I argue that weibo's likely political impact has been overblown. Not only have older media like newspapers been more politically aggressive than many scholars realize, but also weibo themselves are likely to follow the pattern set by previous emerging electronic media. In the long run, the CCP will likely tame China's micro-blogs in a way that may even help foster the Party's continuing rule. The revolution, in short, may not be Twittered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study on an anti-incinerator event in Guangzhou, China. It highlights the definition of social movement and its emergence as the expression of weak and rising democratic society. It explores its limited structure of political opportunities in authoritarian nations. An overview of its effect on democratization as well as the involvement of journalism is also provided.

The paper inquires why the villagers in two townships in the same province have distinctive patterns of resistance behaviors, disorganized individual resistance in one and collective actions in the other, and explores the mechanisms behind the growing volume of unrest in rural China. The ethnographic data suggest that the different approaches of urbanization have produced diverse structures of local rural regimes, which are embedded in the everyday practices of social capital of the villagers and shape their subjectivities and resistance agencies. The invasive urbanization in W Township establishes a neo-clientelist local regime, under which the villagers construct and understand their class positions in the villages via personal networking practices with the village cadres and individually adopt the cadres as their negotiation agents with the powerful in resistance. The destructive urbanization in T Township on the other hand sunders the local regime by driving the village cadres to work in the cities together with the villagers. They build a localistic communitas in the cities that carries collective discourses of rights, law, and citizenship and serves as the basis of organized actions. Through the tale of the two townships, theories of social capital, social movement, and community development are critiqued and restructured. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of social movement have undergone paradigm shifts, from "mass society" to "resource mobilization", "political process", and "norms and identity in new social movements". If contextual and institutional differences of these western driven theoretical tools still persist among countries, then why social struggle and social resistance can be observed in China? This article draws from participant observation and in-depth interviews research to show how stigmatized identity and public discourse contribute to social changes. Evidence comes from two-year study of a civil organization struggling against the Hepatitis B Virus related discrimination in employment in China. To explain the mechanism through which identity-based public actions result in social changes, I explore an analytical framework highlighting comprehensive ways of understanding how marginalized group uses identity and organized public events to get empowered and achieve movement goals. Results suggest that stigmatized identity stimulates the HBVers' community to redefine and reemphasize their claims and rights. Public discourse has played important role in garnering more sympathetic bystanders as well as reshaping community boundaries. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has established that to increase mobilization and the chances of success, social movements must actively construct the meaning of the events under contention in a manner that resonates with the cultural context and cognitive schema of potential constituents. This process is known as collective action framing. However, it is less well defined which of the many elements of the cultural stock social movements draw from in order to create what they perceive as culturally resonating frames. The breadth of cultural material to choose from becomes even more complicated when movements act transnationally or globally. Through frame analysis, this paper examines the cultural stock that social movements draw from by exploring the intersection of world society theory and the collective action frames of social movement organizations targeting the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Research from the world society perspective has documented the rapid spread of a world culture through scripts and models created and promoted primarily by international nongovernmental organizations. The results in this case indicate that social movements seek frame resonance by drawing much of the cultural material from the scripts and models created and promoted by world society actors. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's 1989 student-led pro-democratic movement presents a case study for framing processes in a repressive setting. Existing literature explores the trajectories of the movement based on the characteristics of China's civil society and political structure, for instance, Confucianism (Perry 1992, Berstein 1999), student organization and mobilization (Zhao 1998, 2000, Wright 1999), state-society relationship, and the power-elite's involvement in movement (Zhao 2000, 2001, Deng 1997). The 1989 movement literature differs significantly from western social movement literature, in which the activities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are usually the centerpieces, and soul of the mainstream countermovement analysis (Thomas 2000, Meyer 1990, Snow et al. 1986, Ginsburg 1998, Mottl 1980, Meyer and Staggenborg 1996). Quite a few pieces of 1989 movement studies emphasizes on the power-elite involvement in the movement, an area that is usually neglected in the western social movement literature (Pichardo 1995: 21). In this study, I argue that the state-society relations in China function as linkages between the state discourse and movement participation, and was central to CCP's discrediting strategies. This paper discusses frame and counter-frame strategies employed by the students, most importantly the state, in the hope to expand frame alignment theory to also explain power-elites' involvement in the movement. In addition, I argue that within China's specific political culture, the keynotes of the student movement, "democracy" and "freedom" ironically compromised student's mass mobilization effort by facilitating state's discrediting strategies which resulted in the failure of the movement. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to answer the basic question of whether or not a civil society has ever come into existence in Macau with a time focus on the 1990s and after. The question is a justified one if the idea of civil society is taken seriously. Civil society is commonly defined as the arena outside of the family, the government and the market where people associate to advance common interests. In terms of composition, it comprises a network of voluntary associations, and informal groups and activities. Recent literature has further distinguished between civil society and political society (where political society is organized to gain political power), and investigated the importance of discursive activities and the internet to the strengthening of civil society. In terms of functions and potentials, civil society represents an autonomous realm, independent of state control, and provides the basis for social movements and political opposition. Macau, although not deprived of associational life, is famous for its patron-client politics and consensual politics until very recently. So, if there is a civil society in Macau, then in what forms has it been articulated? How vibrant and powerful is it? What importance has it had to the democratization in Macau? What dominant political values have been upheld by it, and in what ways are these values conducive to democratization? Overall, the paper sheds light on the developments, potentials and constraints of Macau’s civil society in relation to democratization. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A broad range of indicators suggest that China has become much more globally active in recent years. Existing research has indentified a number of economic and strategic motivations behind China's increased diplomatic and economic activism. Yet there have been no efforts to systematically test the relative importance of different drivers of China's diplomatic priorities. What factors lead China to focus attention on relations with one country instead of another? Are economic or geostrategic factors more important, and are Chinese priorities changing over time? We argue that Chinese leadership travel abroad offers a useful, if imperfect, indicator of China's diplomatic priorities. Using a unique, newly compiled dataset, we analyze quantitatively the correlates of travel abroad by top Chinese leaders from 1998 to 2006. We find that geo-strategic factors appear to have been the primary drivers of travel decisions early on (while Jiang Zemin was president), but that economic factors appear paramount later (under the presidency of Hu Jintao). ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a critique of Talcott Parsons' theory of affect and social order with regard to its analytical implications on the rise of expressive individualism in modern society. While the later Parsons upholds the idea of 'integrative rationality' as the principle and code of affective communication and social order, he fails to tackle adequately with the disintegrative tendencies of modern individualism. In denying the tension between the early Christian notion of 'love' and ascetic Protestantism, Parsons conceives modern (American) society as a sacralized, Christian order evolving towards 'institutionalized individualism', with its integrative problems reduced into the transient disturbances in the interchange between affect and other action media. Instead of media conflation, I argue that the dynamics of competition is significant for our understanding of the secular culture of consumerism and narcissism arising not only in Protestant America but also in Confucian China. In the latter case, the attempts of the late-nineteenth century 'study society' movement to reconstitute social 'harmony' and 'civilization' were eventually turned into revolutionary élan and iconoclasm over the course of cultural and political competition, which has thus paved the way for the rise of consumerist and narcissist individualism in contemporary China. The Chinese experience therefore suggests that contrary to Parsons, affect does not only possess an integrative character; it is also a potentially disintegrative socio-cultural force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How one movement under unfavorable political and cultural conditions got "opportunities" from another movement to grow? I use minimum wage movement in Hong Kong (1998-2006) as a case to articulate "political spillover". Three stages of the movement are sequentially constructed for comparison. I argue that successful right-based mass protests sent mixed political signals to different parties (i.e. regime, pro-government political elites and other challengers) by damaging the regime's legitimacy, creating electoral instability, and demonstrating the victory of people. The signals urged the regime to place new frames on the agenda in response to movement claims and grievances, caused discredited pro-government unions to adopt challengers' collective action form and claims for improving its image, and spurred other challengers to make new claims. These created a new policy context for minimum wage movement through getting a claim to the agenda, increasing political allies, making the policy monopoly divided, and driving the trade federations to compete for similar goals. However, only those challengers who constructed pressing problems resonant with official frames successfully pressured the regime to consider their claims. This article concludes by highlighting the role of mixed political signals and sequential responses in accounting for the trajectory of social movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A continuous ripple of anti-Japanese protests broke out in China in April 2005. This paper aims at offering an empirical account, perhaps the first of its kind, of these protest events. Taking these events as cultural performance, I analyze the protests from the perspective of cultural pragmatics (Alexander & Mast 2003; Alexander 2004). I also integrate into my analysis concepts and theories borrowed from social movement literature. I focus on how the Chinese protestors project their meanings by the creation of a foreground script through the identification of an antagonist, the construction of a collective identity and a narrative of grievance and redress that rings true to the background representation. I draw special attention to a hidden script that has been encoded within this foreground script which conveys message of opposition that is to be recognized by part of the audience yet missed by the others. I then elaborate on the meaning interpretation that different sections of the audience made of these protests, arguing that the ambiguity and ambivalence of the hidden script has played a key role in determining the different readings of these different audience. My conclusion is that success of a cultural performance, or whether it could produce what Alexander calls the "psychological identification and cultural extension" (Alexander 2004), is contingent on all the elements that are involved and its effects would differ dramatically for different audience who may or may not share the collective background representation with the actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China eliminated 'feudal' landlordism of two thousand years when the US blockaded the new People's Republic of China and forced China to adopted survivalism and become a Maoist self-reliant and sustainable economy in the cold-war structure. With the improvement of the US-China relationship, and Mao's death opened up political opportunities for reform despite that peasants and local cadres did not pay attention to the issue of land and environmental degradation as they did in the co-operatives and communes. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how an increasing political threat shapes coalition formation. It is found that only political threat does not sufficiently explain why a particular coalition is formed at particular time. I argue that the effect of dynamic political environment is contingent on organizational and cultural works, "organizational bridging mechanism". Its function varies if 1.) organizational leaders have ties to institutional players and activists within and across domains; if 2.) bridging organizations are active to obtain genuine information through those ties and share cultural works and imagination with other activists across domains; and if 3.) leaders take initiative to create 'mesomobilizational platform' for various activists to evaluate the frame of situations, articulate a vision of 'social movement', discuss the possibility of cooperation and provide resources to kick off coalition works. This mechanism is shaped and constrained by three factors, i.e. social movement imagination, past coalition networks and institutionalizing environment. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the dynamic interaction of Falun Gong and the Chinese state. Falun Gong experienced a transition from a naturalistic qigong group to a super-naturalistic organization in the mid-1990s, which brought it tremendous success, but the state saw this as a political threat and initiated its crackdown on Falun Gong, which in turn promoted its transformation into a political movement.This study concludes that to better understand religious movements, social movement studies and the sociology of religion should be integrated into a dynamic one including examinations of both insurgent consciousness and political structure. The study needs to "bring the state back in." Religious movements have distinct evolutionary trajectories in different types of regimes. In an authoritarian regime, the state's efforts to curb religious movements may create potential of escalating political confrontation. Depending on the perceived political opportunities, a new religious movement has three options: seclusion, confrontation, and vacillation. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a conference paper titled "Idea and Authority: The Roles of Intellectuals in Environmental Justice Campaigns in China and Taiwan" prepared for the "2005 International Studies Association (ISA) Convention" in Honolulu, Hawaii. It discusses the evolution of environmental justice campaigns in Taiwan and China and the factors that affect the destiny of these campaigns. It offers a review of literature on social movements and highlights the importance of epistemic communities in both countries.

The article focuses on the role of transnational religious and ethnic networks in the economic development in China. The earliest forms of transnational social action has stemmed from religious groups and organizations. The differentiation between latent and dynamic networks is useful in assessing varying processes and outcomes. The presence of transnational collective activity in a setting where it has been absent reveals the need to consider two new concepts within social movements theory, repertoires of cooperation and opportunity creation.

There has been much research on the powerful functions of political rituals to mobilize people into social movements. This paper studies a neglected topic: the failure of political rituals. Erving Goffman's interaction ritual theory and Randall Collins' sociology of emotion provide the theoretical framework for this analysis. By looking at the beginning years of China's Cultural Revolution, this paper examines the emotional dynamic of political rituals during that charged time period and posits that forced political rituals can create negative emotions which alienate people from the movement. Since private backstage is important in sustaining people's performances on a political frontstage, the elimination of the backstage produced even more alienation from the central symbol of their frontstage performance. The negative effects of these political rituals contributed to their disillusionments and the decline of people's enthusiasm for the Cultural Revolution. Thy have had profound influence in China's politics in subsequent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a case of Internet protest that occurred in China in 2003 and explores how the political process model might operate differently in an authoritarian context. The outpouring of public protest and outrage over the Internet that decried the police beating death of a college graduate in China during the spring of 2003 resulted in the abolishment of a key administrative regulation that had long been the source of police abuse. The particular unfolding of this virtual protest suggests that organization and leadership of contentious politics that scholars of social movements have traditionally looked to as fundamental to social movement success need to be constantly created, recreated, renewed and regenerated in an authoritarian context by social movement actors--a process that is more fluid and contingent than the dynamic observed in contentious politics of liberal democratic societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines under what condition and through what mechanism grassroots resistance could initiate social change. It further explores the collective protest at Dahe dam in China by illustrating two points: Rightful resistance is more likely to produce the best outcome out of three forms of resistance; Legacy of the dam matters in a wave of new protests in Three Gorges Project. One can not deny the social change potential of rightful resistance. A successful rightful resistance will promote future resistance in Dahe.

Since the 1990s, the occurrences of collective resistance have been increasing in both rural and urban China. However, present theoretical frameworks such as Resource Mobilization Model, Political Process Model and New Social Movement Theory, are inadequate in their ability to explain the dynamics of such collective resistances in urban China (termed ordinary social movements). Based on a case study, this article argues that, in ordinary social movements, protest activists are able to utilize social capital to horizontally mobilize other citizens on the one hand, and to vertically appeal to high-ranking authorities and seek state support on the other. Social capital is thus a vital factor in accounting for the rise and subsequent outcomes of ordinary social movements. The exploration of the role of social capital, especially of vertical links, in collective resistance is a crucial contribution to current theories on social movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the increasing amount of collective resistance in post-Mao rural China has caught intense attention of many scholars in China studies, almost nobody has applied the typical models in social movement literature to account for its emergence and development. With ten firsthand and five secondhand recent collective resistance cases, this study examines the applicability of the classical model and the political process model in accounting for the emergence of collective resistance in post-Mao rural China. The study shows that the political process model provides a much more complete and sophisticated account than the classical model does. However, this study also proposes two improvement areas in the political process model. First, instead of emphasizing the single effect of political opportunity structure and omitting the role of stimulus/grievance in triggering a collective resistance, the study argues for the interaction effect of these two factors; second, in order to avoid structural determinism, the study proposes to separate the role of leadership as an agency factor from that of pre-existing organizations, the structural factor. It is the leadership that activates the mobilization function of pre-existing organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on a study on the social changes in rural China by using the oral history materials. Based on about 200 hours of oral history interviews at a village in northwestern China, the study describes the grassroots narrative about the Chinese Communist Revolution. It is the distinctiveness of Chinese communist revolution, as well as the industrial and democratic revolutions in the western society, that made Chinese society unique in contrast to other orders of social life. As a result of revolution, the traditional, rural society stepped into the modern one, and some profound and lasting changes have taken place.

From the 1950's to the 1970's, more than 17 million urban young students were sent to remote countryside and rural areas in China. In this Send-Down Movement, the Chinese state force showed tremendous power in social mobilization and organization. Using a theoretical framework of Interaction Ritual and Emotional Energy, this paper analyzes the social mobilization process of the Send-Down Movement and actors' retrospective evaluations for this historical event as well as their personal lives. Findings suggest that in the movement, sent-down youth took conflicting roles and identities. The state force, by multiple means invaded personal decision-making process and reordered the hierarchies of felt identities/roles, and finally boosted the social mobilization. As an important life event happening in early adulthood, the sent-down experiences greatly shaped individuals' life courses and alter their subsequent life events. In this course, the emotional energy cumulated over time, and contributed to actors' contradictory views on a certain historical episode: negative evaluations for the social movement and positive evaluations for personal life experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the global significance of the struggles of various social forces, especially workers and farmers, in China. Politically, they affect the domestic stability of the world's most populous nation. This paper also undertakes an initial effort by focusing on the communicative dimensions of unrest by industrial workers in China. The absence of the autonomous channels of communication limits the geographic scale and organizational coherency of coordinated industrial activism in the country.

Based on 19 months of field research and more than 150 in-depth interviews across 9 Chinese cities, this paper argues that local goverments, as the primary targets and interlocutors of Chinese laid-off workers’ contention respond to protesting workers in ways that are largely shaped by their fiscal situation and contraints. Understanding state responses to collection action is also an importnat step toward more fully explaining outcomes and long-term trajectories of contentious collective action and social movements in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]