Popular contention and its impact in Rural China

Kevin J. O'BRIEN
, Lianjiang LI

Research output: Journal Publications › Journal Article (refereed) › peer-review

Abstract

Protest outcomes in rural China are typically an outgrowth of interaction between activists, sympathetic elites, targets, and the public. Popular agitation first alerts concerned officials to poor policy implementation and may prompt them to take corrective steps. As a result of participating in contention, certain activists feel empowered and become more likely to take part in future challenges, whereas others feel disillusioned and lapse into passivity. In the course of observing collective action, some onlookers are sensitized to protesters' concerns and public opinion is affected. Without popular action, better implementation, biographical change, and effects on the public would not emerge, but nor would they without involvement from above. Studying the impact of this protest thus sheds light on two issues that have long troubled students of contentious politics: (a) how to get a grip on indirect, mediated consequences; and (b) how to think about causality when change is a result of popular action as well as openings provided by sympathetic elites.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	235-259
Number of pages	25
Journal	Comparative Political Studies
Volume	38
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414004272528
Publication status	Published - Apr 2005
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

For helpful comments, we would like to thank Maria Edin, Sidney Tarrow, Stig Thøgersen, Kevin Wallsten, and the anonymous reviewers. Special note should be made of Prof. Yu Jianrong of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who kindly shared some interview transcripts.

Funding

Generous financial support was provided by the Asia Foundation, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, the Henry Luce Foundation, the Research and Writing Program of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, the Institute of East Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and Hong Kong Baptist University.

Keywords

Collective action
Contention
Implementation
Peasants
Protest

Access to Document

10.1177/0010414004272528

Cite this

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title = "Popular contention and its impact in Rural China",

abstract = "Protest outcomes in rural China are typically an outgrowth of interaction between activists, sympathetic elites, targets, and the public. Popular agitation first alerts concerned officials to poor policy implementation and may prompt them to take corrective steps. As a result of participating in contention, certain activists feel empowered and become more likely to take part in future challenges, whereas others feel disillusioned and lapse into passivity. In the course of observing collective action, some onlookers are sensitized to protesters' concerns and public opinion is affected. Without popular action, better implementation, biographical change, and effects on the public would not emerge, but nor would they without involvement from above. Studying the impact of this protest thus sheds light on two issues that have long troubled students of contentious politics: (a) how to get a grip on indirect, mediated consequences; and (b) how to think about causality when change is a result of popular action as well as openings provided by sympathetic elites. ",

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N2 - Protest outcomes in rural China are typically an outgrowth of interaction between activists, sympathetic elites, targets, and the public. Popular agitation first alerts concerned officials to poor policy implementation and may prompt them to take corrective steps. As a result of participating in contention, certain activists feel empowered and become more likely to take part in future challenges, whereas others feel disillusioned and lapse into passivity. In the course of observing collective action, some onlookers are sensitized to protesters' concerns and public opinion is affected. Without popular action, better implementation, biographical change, and effects on the public would not emerge, but nor would they without involvement from above. Studying the impact of this protest thus sheds light on two issues that have long troubled students of contentious politics: (a) how to get a grip on indirect, mediated consequences; and (b) how to think about causality when change is a result of popular action as well as openings provided by sympathetic elites.

AB - Protest outcomes in rural China are typically an outgrowth of interaction between activists, sympathetic elites, targets, and the public. Popular agitation first alerts concerned officials to poor policy implementation and may prompt them to take corrective steps. As a result of participating in contention, certain activists feel empowered and become more likely to take part in future challenges, whereas others feel disillusioned and lapse into passivity. In the course of observing collective action, some onlookers are sensitized to protesters' concerns and public opinion is affected. Without popular action, better implementation, biographical change, and effects on the public would not emerge, but nor would they without involvement from above. Studying the impact of this protest thus sheds light on two issues that have long troubled students of contentious politics: (a) how to get a grip on indirect, mediated consequences; and (b) how to think about causality when change is a result of popular action as well as openings provided by sympathetic elites.

KW - Collective action

KW - Contention

KW - Implementation

KW - Peasants

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SP - 235

EP - 259

JO - Comparative Political Studies

JF - Comparative Political Studies

IS - 3

ER -

Popular contention and its impact in Rural China

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

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Popular Contention and its Impact in Rural China

Popular Contention and its Impact in Rural China

中國農村的民眾抗爭活動及其影響

Cite this