What role do Chinese popular associations play in the expansion of civil society and democratization? Under Mao few associations were permitted to exist, while today over 200,000 associations are officially recognized. Are they important foundations of civil society, or vehicles for state corporatism and control? In this book leading China specialists examine an interesting range of associations, from business associations to trade unions, to urban homeowners associations, women's groups against domestic violence, and rural NGOs that develop anti-poverty programs. The contributors find different important trends underway in different parts of China's economy and society. Their findings are nuanced, insightful - and often not what might be expected.

Introduction: Chinese Associations, Civil Society, and State Corporatism: Disputed Terrain, Jonathan Unger; 1. Civil Society in a Transitional State: The Rise of Associations in China, Andrew Watson; 2. Association in a Bind: The Emergence of Political Corporatism, Jonathan Unger and Anita Chan; 3. China's Trade Unions in Corporatist Transition, Anita Chan; 4. Embedded Within State Agencies: Business Associations in Yantai, Kenneth W. Foster; 5. The Strange Marriage Between the State and Private Business in Beijing, Jonathan Unger; 6. The Price of Competition: The Failed Government Effort to Use Associations to Organize China's Market Economy, Scott Kennedy; 7. Airing Dirty Laundry in Public: Anti-Domestic Violence Activism in Beijing, Samantha Keech-Marx; 8. Civil Society and the Anatomy of a Rural NGO, Xin Zhang and Richard Baum; 9. Democratizing the Neighborhood? New Private Housing and Homeowner Associations' Self-Organization in Urban China, Benjamin L. Read; Bibliography; Index.