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Post-Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction Efforts: The Emergence of Civil Society in China?*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2009

Jessica C. Teets
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Abstract

Many analysts contend that participation in the Sichuan earthquake relief efforts strengthened Chinese civil society. I examine these claims based on interviews with civil society organizations, academics and local officials in Sichuan, and argue that participation in relief efforts has strengthened civil society through increased capacity, publicity and interaction with local government. Conversely, relief efforts also reveal weaknesses in civil society and their governing institutions which inhibit further development, such as the trust and capacity deficit of these organizations. Participation in relief efforts served as a learning process whereby government, society and civil society groups learned how to work together effectively. However, in order to consolidate these gains and further strengthen civil society, there must be greater institutionalization of these groups' roles, increased capacity building, and greater trust between society, groups and the local state.

Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 198 , June 2009 , pp. 330 - 347
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 2009

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References

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29 Interview SN1.

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56 Interview SR8.

57 Interview SN6.

58 Interview SI3.

59 Interview SG2.

60 Interviews SI3 and SG7.

61 Interview SG7. These auditing teams have found few problems; in one the vice-mayor of one of the “sister cities” for reconstruction, Anyang, Henan, was found guilty of mismanaging the purchase and distribution of tents and was fired.

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63 Interviews BG5 and BG6.

64 Interview NN1.

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67 Interview BI1.

68 Interview BR2.

69 Interview BR4.

70 Interview BR4.

71 Jessica C. Teets, “Governance in non-democracies: the role of civil society in increasing pluralism and accountability in local public policy,” unpublished dissertation, 3 December 2008.