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.”