Abstract
The system’s “adaptation quandary” triggers efforts to address the problems by those who implement policies on the ground. Again, with the case of the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, this chapter shows that the local governments in China embraced postquake opportunities for change and innovation in governance, and such efforts seemed neither ephemeral nor mere pretense. Reading the logic behind local officials’ interaction with nonstate actors in the rehabilitation and reconstruction process, we can understand their eagerness as well as uneasiness in pursuing changes. They welcomed nonstate actors for various instrumental reasons and practical benefits, but, simultaneously, were wary of these new actors’ competency and popularity. They were willing to open up the operation process to new resources and ideas; however, they still had too many things to hide from public view. This was the local version of the “adaptation quandary.”
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
My first round of fieldwork ended in August 2009, 15 months after the earthquake. In 2010, I returned to the research site intermittently to update information and collect more data. At the time I withdrew completely from fieldwork, life in the quake-hit areas was almost back to normal, but the majority of the victims had not yet moved out of the temporary resettlement sites. Therefore, although we can speculate that the many new governing practices retained at that point have great potential to be translated into formal policies when things return to routine, there remains huge uncertainty in their sustainability (except for a few practices that have already been institutionalized or written into laws and regulations).
- 2.
Promulgated and came into effect on June 8, 2008.
- 3.
Amended on December 27, 2008, it came into effect on May 1, 2009.
- 4.
Dr. Kam-Tong Chan from the Centre for Third Sector Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic University of Hong, classified social work involvement in disaster relief into five types: (a) the “government-led ‘corresponding’ reconstruction” mode, such as Shanghai is responsible for Dujiangyan; (b) the self-initiated mode of NGOs; (c) local government-led, together with other social groups and set up in the site; (d) social work site transformed to “social enterprise,” which has become a new trend; (e) projects operated by independent institutions, which are supported by domestic and foreign foundations, such as the Taiwan Tzu Chi Association in the Shifang site; or (f) social work stations set up by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. See http://www.polyu.edu.hk/apss/upload/Dr%20Chan%20Kam%20Tong.pdf.
- 5.
Internal document of “Shanghai Social Worker Service Team,” May 29, 2008.
References
Argyris, C., & Schon, D. A. (1978). Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective. Amsterdam: Addison-Wesley.
Baumgartner, F., & Jones, B. D. (1993). Agendas and instability in American politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Birkland, T. A. (1988). Focusing events, mobilization, and agenda setting. Journal of Public Policy, 18(1), 53–74.
Boin, A., Hart, P., Stern, E., & Sundelius, B. (2006). The politics of crisis management: Public leadership under pressure. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Cobb, R. W., & Elder, C. D. (1983). Participation in American democracy: The dynamics of agenda-building. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
Dickson, B. J. (1998). Democratization in China and Taiwan: The adaptability of Leninist parties. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Guo, H. (2009). Report at “Sichuan 5.12 disaster brings transcendence. ‘Learning by Action’ Training Workshop” organized by Sichuan Post-disaster Reconstruction Support and Research Center, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (9–12/4/2009). http://www.apss.polyu.edu.hk/sichuanprojects/images/upload/11.pdf. Accessed June 21, 2014.
Han, J., & Ji, Y. (2009). Empirical analysis of charitable activities during the Wenchuan Earthquake: Telling the NGO story. The China Nonprofit Review, 1(2), 173–202.
Heilmann, S., & Perry, E. J. (Eds.) (2011). Mao’s invisible hand: The political foundations of adaptive governance in China. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Jia, X. (2008, July 22). Chinese civil society after the 512 earthquake. Policy Forum Online. The Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development. http://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-policy-forum/chinese-civil-society-after-the-512-earthquake/. Accessed June 21, 2014.
Kingdon, J. W. (1995). Agendas, alternatives, and public policies. New York: HarperCollins.
Law of the People’s Republic of China on protecting against and mitigating earthquake disasters. (1997, December 29). Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China.
Regulations on post-Wenchuan-Earthquake restoration and reconstruction. (2008, June 4). State Council of the People’s Republic of China.
Roney, B. (2011). Earthquakes and civil society: A comparative study of the response of China’s nongovernment organizations to the Wenchuan Earthquake. China Information, 25(1), 83–104.
Schurmann, F. (1968). Ideology and organization in Communist China. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Teets, J. (2009). Post-earthquake relief and reconstruction efforts: The emergence of civil society in China? The China Quarterly, 198, 330–347.
Yang, G. (2008). A civil society emerges from the earthquake rubble. New Perspectives Quarterly, 25(3), 39–42.
Zhang, Q., Lu, Q., & Zhang, H. (2009). Catastrophe and NGO: Challenges and responses in global perspectives. Beijing: Peking University Press.
Zhang, Q., & Yu, X. (2009). A study on NGO’s participation in the post-disaster reconstruction for Wenchuan Earthquake. Beijing: Peking University Press.
Zhu, J., Wang, C., & Hu, M. (Eds.) (2009). Obligation, action, and cooperation: Case studies on NGO’s participation in Wenchuan Earthquake relief. Beijing: Peking University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kang, Y. (2015). Postdisaster Changes in Local Governance and Chances for Nonstate Sector Development. In: Disaster Management in China in a Changing Era. SpringerBriefs in Political Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44516-7_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44516-7_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-44515-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-44516-7
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)