MCLC: Civil Society in China review

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Anne Henochowicz <anne at chinadigitaltimes.net>
Subject: Civil Society in China review
***********************************************************

Source: Alliance Magazine (9/1/13):
http://www.alliancemagazine.org/taxonomy/term/43

Civil Society in China
By Karla Simon

==================================================
Civil Society in China: The legal framework from ancient times to the ‘New
Reform Era’
By Karla Simon
Oxford University Press $75/£45
ISBN 9780199765898
==================================================

Karla Simon’s clearly written, meticulously researched book admirably
fills the pressing need for a comprehensive overview of philanthropy and
civil society in China. There have been historical studies of
philanthropic and associational activity in China during its long history
prior to 1949 and many studies of philanthropy and civil society in China
during the reform period (1980s to the present). But there has never been
a study that has bridged the gap.

Simon’s book provides an overarching account of the evolution of
philanthropy and civil society from the Qin dynasty to 2013. The book,
which runs to 373 pages (plus 125 pages of appendices, bibliography and
index), could be described as a play in three acts. Act 1 consists of four
chapters that provide separate overviews of the legal traditions, and
charity and associational life, in imperial China. Because they treat the
two topics separately, the relationship between the two is only suggested.
But the chapters do provide a glimpse of the diversity of associational
life in China during this period.

The focus on the legal framework for civil society does not come to the
fore until Acts 2 and 3. In Act 2, Simon examines the legal framework for
charitable and associational activity that was constructed after the fall
of the last dynasty in the first half of the 20th century, and the
heavy-handed way in which the socialist state created a monopoly on
associational activity after 1949 by setting up GONGOs
(government-organized NGOs) known in Chinese parlance as ‘mass
organizations’. In these middle chapters, Simon shows how the legal
framework that emerged in the 20th century bore the imprint of Qing
dynasty laws as well as the Japanese and French civil codes, which gave
greater discretion to the state in regulating associational life. These
historical influences, she argues, are important in shaping the
state-centric legal framework that emerged in the reform period after
Mao’s death in 1976.

The creation and evolution of the legal framework from the 1980s to the
present is the subject of Act 3, which consists of seven chapters and
constitutes the heart of this book. While the previous chapters are based
on secondary sources, these draw on Simon’s own role in consulting for the
Chinese government over the last two decades, her conversations with
Chinese scholars and officials, and her own extensive expertise in the
legal frameworks of other countries. She provides detailed analyses of
some of the main laws and regulations, such as the registration
regulations for the three main types of CSO (social organizations, private
non-enterprise units and foundations), and even the eagerly awaited
Charity Law (Simon has access to a draft of the Law), which has been in
legislative limbo for the past few years. A number of these laws,
regulations and reforms have been discussed piecemeal in other sources,
but this book contains the most comprehensive discussion and analysis of
them. These later chapters include valuable discussions of areas that have
not been covered in other book-length studies, such as the documentation
system used by a number of localities for overseeing community civil
organizations (CCOs), local reforms in the tax and fundraising
regulations, and an entire chapter on the legal framework for religious
organizations.

In illuminating China’s long continuous history of philanthropy and
associational activity, Simon makes a number of valuable contributions.
One is to show that China’s current fascination with charity and
non-profits is not an aberration or foreign transplant but builds on a
long tradition of charity and associational life. Second, her detailed
description of the legal framework’s evolution during the 20th century
provides some insight into the immediate historical influences shaping the
current framework. Previous studies tend to give short shrift to the
immediate antecedents of the current system. Chapters 8-14 in particular
give us a clear picture of gradual but largely progressive changes taking
place in the legal framework over the last three decades. Finally, the
last chapter, which examines legal developments in the civil society
sector in other Asian countries, provides a valuable comparative context
for understanding developments in China and suggestions about which
countries might serve as models for China.

Simon has performed an important service in writing this book, which
should become the standard reference for the philanthropic and civil
society sector in China.

Shawn Shieh is director and editor, China Development Brief (English).
Email shawn.shieh at chinadevelopmentbrief.cn.

To order
http://global.oup.com/academic/product/civil-society-in-china-9780199765898
?cc=gb&lang=en&
Civil Society in China: The legal framework from ancient times to the ‘New
Reform Era'
Karla Simon Oxford University Press $75/£45
ISBN 9780199765898