International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS)

This study examines the relationship between migrant civil society organisations (CSOs) in Beijing and Shanghai and the Chinese state. The research explores how both stakeholders interact with each other, and the subsequent impact on state-society relations. Civil society organisations in China are increasingly central to the changing social landscape. With the Chinese state gradually withdrawing its support and finances across a number of social sectors, CSOs are appearing to be ever more important in bridging the shortfall. The emergence of migrant CSOs and the general diversification of Chinese society can be understood within China’s economic reforms, leading to unprecedented levels of internal migration. In the case of migrant CSOs, they have surfaced to tackle the diverse challenges migrant workers face, given the failure of central and local states to address their welfare. Considering the sheer number of migrants (120 to 200 million) and their importance to economic development, migrant CSOs represent a fruitful object of study for the analysis of Chinese state-society relations. The state recognises its own shortcomings in the provision of welfare, and has therefore accepted the involvement of CSOs, but with trepidation due to their potential threat to social and political instability. The Beijing and Shanghai case-studies reveal the critical importance of looking at the local level when analysing state-society relations. Fieldwork consisting of in-depth interviews with migrant CSOs, government officials and Chinese academics, and participant observation at CSOs’ project sites are the foundations for the study. The fieldwork data reveal that the Chinese state is not a single entity, but the state manifests in various forms at the local level. The different layers of the state have ensured its own presence in a variety of new and old spaces including local and international CSOs, and the government’s mass organisations. Through the study of migrant CSOs, we see state actively co-opting these CSOs to meet its own agenda. However, we also see the CSOs adopting various strategies in negotiating with different levels of the state in order to optimise their work. The Beijing case indicates a migrant CSO sector that is diverse and similarly reflected in their relationship with the state. In contrast, the sector in Shanghai is relatively homogenous and so too are the interactions with the authorities. The study of migrant CSOs presents a window into China’s state-society relations and how the state is dealing with an ever more pluralistic society.