Social protest and contentious authoritarianism in China / / Xi Chen

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910811359903321
• Autore: Chen Xi <1972 Sept. 6->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Cambridge ; ; New York, : Cambridge University Press, 2012
• ISBN: 1-107-22998-7; 1-139-21000-9; 1-280-48533-7; 9786613580313; 1-139-22295-3; 1-139-21815-8; 1-139-21506-X; 1-139-22467-0; 1-139-22124-8; 1-139-05331-0
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (xiii, 241 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)
• Classificazione: POL000000
• Disciplina: 322.40951
• Soggetti: Protest movements - China; Social conflict - China; China Politics and government 1976-2002; China Politics and government 2002-
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Part I.A Contentious Society: 1. Introduction -- 2. The surge in social protests from ahistorical perspective -- Part II. Political Opportunity Structure: 3. Market reforms and state strategies -- 4. The Xifang system and political opportunity -- Part III. Protest Strategies and Tactics: 5. Between defiance and obedience -- 6. "Troublemaking" tactics and their efficacy -- Part IV. Conclusion: 7. Reflections and speculations.
• Sommario/riassunto: Xi Chen explores the question of why there has been a dramatic rise in and routinization of social protests in China since the early 1990s. Drawing on case studies, in-depth interviews and a unique data set of about 1,000 government records of collective petitions, this book ; examines how the political structure in Reform China has encouraged Chinese farmers, workers, pensioners, disabled people and demobilized soldiers to pursue their interests and claim their rights by staging collective protests. Chen suggests that routinized contentious bargaining between the government and ordinary people has remedied the weaknesses of the Chinese political system and contributed to the regime's resilience. Social Protest and Contentious Authoritarianism in China challenges the conventional wisdom that authoritarian regimes always repress popular collective protest and that popular collective action tends to destabilize authoritarian regimes.