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Environmental NGOs and Institutional Dynamics in China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2005

Guobin Yang
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Abstract

Environmental non-governmental organizations are becoming increasingly visible players in China's environmental politics. Adopting a field perspective, this article shows how the rise of environmental NGOs has taken place in interactions with four institutional fields. They not only respond to political conditions, but also to opportunities offered by the media, the internet and international NGOs. In this process, organizational entrepreneurs play a crucial role in mobilizing resources while other individuals participate in search of self-fulfilment or social experience. These arguments underscore the multi-institutional dynamics of civil society development without underestimating state-centred and market-centred explanations. In conclusion, the article discusses how environmental NGOs can serve as both sites and agents of democratic social change in China.

Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 181 , March 2005 , pp. 46 - 66
Copyright
© The China Quarterly, 2005

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Footnotes

The research and writing was made possible by a grant from the University Research Council of the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa and a “Writing and Research” grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (Grant No. 02-76177-000-GSS). Revision of the article was completed while the author was a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. The paper was first presented at a forum in Barnard College, New York City, in February 2003. I am indebted to Jennifer Turner for sharing research resources and introducing me to China's environmental NGO community, and to Ching Kwan Lee and Margaret Pearson for comments. I thank Hu Jia and Li Junhui for facilitating field research, Lu Hongyan for sharing survey data, and David Blythe and Cena Maxfield for providing research assistance.