Journal ArticleDOI
Mobilizing the Law in China: “Informed Disenchantment” and the Development of Legal Consciousness
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TLDR
Wang et al. as discussed by the authors examined the development of legal consciousness among legal aid plaintiffs in Shanghai and observed positive changes in feelings of individual efficacy and competency that are combined with more negative evaluations/perceptions of the legal system in terms of its fairness and effectiveness.Abstract:
This article critically examines the development of legal consciousness among legal aid plaintiffs in Shanghai. It is based on 16 months of research at a large legal aid center and in-depth interviews with 50 plaintiffs. Chinese legal aid plaintiffs come to the legal process with high expectations about the possibility of protecting their rights; however, they also have only a vague and imprecise knowledge of legal procedure and their actual codified rights. Through this process of legal mobilization, plaintiffs' legal consciousness changes in two separate dimensions: changes in one's feelings of efficacy and competency vis-a-vis the law, and changes in one's perception/evaluation of the legal system. Put another way, the first dimension is “How well can I work the law?” and the second is “How well does the law work?” In this study I observe positive changes in feelings of individual efficacy and competency that are combined with more negative evaluations/perceptions of the legal system in terms of its fairness and effectiveness. The positive feelings of efficacy and voice provided by the legal process encourage labor dispute plaintiffs in the post-dispute period to plan new lawsuits and to help friends and relatives with their legal problems. Disenchantment with the promises of the legal system does not lead to despondency, but to more critical, informed action. This study provides new evidence on the nature of China's developing legal system with a focus on the social response to the state-led “rule of law” project.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Remote Control: How the Media Sustain Authoritarian Rule in China:
TL;DR: This article examined the role of the media in sustaining regime stability in an authoritarian context and found that the media contribute to regime legitimacy and effective rule by propagandizing citizens' experiences in the legal system.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Power of Instability: Unraveling the Microfoundations of Bargained Authoritarianism in China
Ching Kwan Lee,Yonghong Zhang +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors develop an interactive and relational conception of infrastructural state power for studying the capacity of authoritarian regimes to absorb popular protests. And they identify three microfoundations of Chinese authoritarianism: protest bargaining, legal-bureaucratic absorption, and patron-clientelism.
Journal ArticleDOI
Climbing the Dispute Pagoda: Grievances and Appeals to the Official Justice System in Rural China
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use survey data to identify the causes of conflict in rural China, and identify the root causes of both the conflict and the violence in the rural areas of China.
Posted Content
China’s Turn Against Law
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper argue that Chinese leaders' shift against law is a distinct domestic political reaction to building pressures in the Chinese system and is a top-down authoritarian response motivated by social stability concerns.
Journal ArticleDOI
China's Turn Against Law
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper argue that Chinese leaders' shift against law is a distinct domestic political reaction to building pressures in the Chinese system and is a top-down authoritarian response motivated by social stability concerns.
References
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Book
Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977
Michel Foucault,Colin Gordon +1 more
TL;DR: The Eye of Power: A Discussion with Maoists as mentioned in this paper discusses the politics of health in the Eighteenth Century, the history of sexuality, and the Confession of the Flesh.
Journal ArticleDOI
Why the "Haves" Come out Ahead: Speculations on the Limits of Legal Change
MonographDOI
The Common Place of Law: Stories from Everyday Life
Patricia Ewick,Susan S. Silbey +1 more
TL;DR: The authors explored the different ways people view the law and identified three common narratives: one is based on the idea of the law as magisterial and remote; another views the Law as a game with rules that can be manipulated to one's advantage; and a third narrative describes the Law is an arbitrary power to be actively resisted.
Book ChapterDOI
The Emergence and Transformation of Disputes: Naming, Blaming, Claiming …
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a framework within which the emergence and transformation of disputes can be described, with the belief that the antecedents of disputing are as problematic and as interesting as the disputes that may ultimately emerge.
Book
Rightful Resistance in Rural China
Kevin J. O'Brien,Lianjiang Li +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss rightful resistance and boundary-spanning claims in the context of China-US relations, and their implications for China's economic and political future.