Civil society in China: Historical evolution, ongoing transformation, and future prospects

This chapter offers a critical overview of current deliberations and debates both in and outside China on the evolving nature of Chinese civil society caught in the throes of market liberation and political stagnancy. It starts with an overview of the historical origin of the conception of civil society in China from Confucian teachings to modern thinkers, and examines the contextual factors in the late 1980s and early 1990s within which the concept of ‘civil society’ rapidly rose as a catchphrase and popular term among China studies scholarship. It then summarises major theoretical threads and thematic strains in major academic publications from the late 1980s to the early 2000s, contemplating the role and function of Chinese civil society in contemporary China. It concludes with a discussion of the future trends and prospects of civil society in China in the years to come.