Governance, Domestic Change, and Social Policy in China: 100 Years after the Xinhai Revolution

by Jean-Marc Blanchard (Editor), Kun-Chin Lin (Editor)

Overview

This book constitutes the first comprehensive retrospective on one hundred years of post-dynastic China and compares enduring challenges of governance in the period around the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911 to those of contemporary China. The authors examine three key areas of domestic change and policy adaptation: social welfare provision, local political institutional reform, and social and environmental consequences of major infrastructure projects. Demonstrating remarkable parallels between the immediate post-Qing era and the recent phase of Chinese reform since the late-1990s, the book highlights common challenges to the political leadership by tracing dynamics of state activism in crafting new social space and terms of engagement for problem-solving and exploring social forces that continue to undermine the centralizing impetus of the state.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781137022851
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date:	10/29/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	199
File size:	840 KB

About the Author

Jean-Marc F. Blanchard is Distinguished Professor, School of Advanced International and Area Studies, East China Normal University, China, and Executive Director of the Mr.&Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, United States.  His research emphasizes foreign investment in and from China, Chinese foreign economic policy, and multinational corporations.
Kun-Chin Lin is University Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Studies and Director of the Centre for Rising Powers, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. His research covers the political economy of China, transport infrastructure and energy policies, industrial policy and regulation, fiscal federalism, maritime governance, and regionalism in Asia.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Governance, Domestic Change, and Social Policy in China in Historical Perspective (Lin and Blanchard)
Chapter 2: Historical Continuities in Social Assistance in China, 1911 – 2011 (Hammond)
Chapter 3: ‘As plants grow towards sunlight…: Amity Foundation’s Social Function in Historical  Perspective (Wielander)
Chapter 4: Governing Disasters: A Comparative Analysis of the 1931, 1954 and 1998 Middle-Yangzi Floods in Hubei (Courtney)Chapter 5: Reasons to Dam: China’s Hydropower Politics and Its Socio- Environmental Consequences (Habich)
Chapter 6: Grassroots Governance Reform in Urban China (Trott)
Chapter 7: China’s Political Stability: Comparisons and Reflections (Zheng)

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Lin and Blanchard offer an edited volume on state and society in China that goes well beyond the norms of the genre. Data rich and analytically interesting, these essays offer a historically grounded set of perspectives on how state and society in China continue to interpenetrate and inform each other in unexpected ways.” (Julia C. Strauss, Professor of Chinese and Comparative Politics, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK)

“A thought-provoking volume that usefully deploys an historical lens to examine some of contemporary China’s most important social, environmental and political issues.” (Jane Duckett, Edward Caird Chair of Politics, University of Glasgow, UK)

“This is a highly stimulating and thoughtful set of essays that crosses chronology and disciplines. Using the century-long arc since the 1911 Chinese revolution, the authors explore a variety of key issues—from governance to social welfare to civil society—in a comparative framework that makes exciting use of historical comparison while providing highly significant insights for the present day.” (Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China, University of Oxford, UK)

Editorial Reviews

"The editors have a good variety of topics, ranging from a particular case (flooding); a particular organization (Amity Foundation); a particular project (dams) and international comparison (in political stability). Each chapter is well written and goes deep eough to analyze the selected area without presenting too much history. … Overall, this volume offers a very good collection for readers." (Hok Wong Cheung, Journal of Chinese Political Science, Vol. 24, 2019)

From the Publisher