Rightful Resistance in Rural China

Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics

by Kevin J. O'Brien, Lianjiang Li

How can the poor and weak 'work' a political system to their advantage? Drawing mainly on interviews and surveys in rural China, Kevin O'Brien and Lianjiang Li show that popular action often hinges on locating and exploiting divisions within the state. Otherwise powerless people use the rhetoric and commitments of the central government to try to fight misconduct by local officials, open up clogged channels of participation, and push back the frontiers of the permissible. This 'rightful resistance' has far-reaching implications for our understanding of contentious politics. As O'Brien and Li explore the origins, dynamics, and consequences of rightful resistance, they highlight similarities between collective action in places as varied as China, the former East Germany, and the United States, while suggesting how Chinese experiences speak to issues such as opportunities to protest, claims radicalization, tactical innovation, and the outcomes of contention.

Genres: China, Political Science, Politics, Social Movements, Anthropology

200 pages, Paperback

First published February 13, 2006

Reviews

[Chelsea Szendi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work is sensitive to the fact that the state - even if in the case of China it attempts to put a monolithic face forward - is heterogeneous. Scholars of Japan really do not examine this point, although it could also be true (until recently?) that the "iron triangle" of the LDP, the bureaucracy, and industry is even more monolithic (or appears more monolithic) than the state in China.

But I digress. O'Brien and Li approach one of the most contentious sites in China today - the countryside - and find that people who demonstrate there do distinguish between specific officials (usually the local tax collector, say) and the party (to whom they try to appeal to, above and beyond the heads of the local officials). The question that remains is if there is a tipping point at which criticism bubbles up and beyond specific officials and local policies - and what then?

[Jie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Locating and exploiting within the state; as long as the state remains not fully united, rural resisters may exploit the divide and open the opportunity structure from below; a must read for Chinese politics(though somewhat cliched for a native Chinese)