The interdependency between state and civil society:

• Main Authors: Regina Martinez Enjuto, 雷娜
• Other Authors: Ku, Chung Hwa
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/96196786888852040701

碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 社會學研究所 === 98 === Rural education in China is the meeting point between civil society and the state. Due to serious inefficiencies and insufficiencies of the education financial system, the state has searched for alternative ways to address the severe problems of education in rural areas, namely, it is performing an inclusive strategy of new social agents (NGOs) to improve the conditions of basic education in rural areas, following the paradigm “Small Government, Big Society”. By participating in the provision of rural education, NGOs engage in informal ties through which they can transfer information to the government and softly advocate changes in specific measures that would improve rural education. Educational NGOs represent the largest group of officially recognized NGOs in China, and their participation in rural education is of key significance to understand contemporary state-society relations in China. The present thesis intends to cover the whole of academic research on Chinese NGOs, understand the background conditions of rural education in China and the causes that drive NGOs to work on the field; discuss the limitations these NGOs encounter and their contributions to the development of rural education; and lastly, evaluate their implications for state-society relations in both the practical and theoretical sense, likewise expanding the existing theoretical body on civil society in China. The research methodology includes a theoretical exploration on civil society in China and a descriptive analysis of NGOs in China; an historical analysis of the development of the education system, and a descriptive study of the education conditions, focusing on rural education. It includes an examination of Project Hope, and a case study on Beijing Western Sunshine Rural Development Foundation (BWSF), based on empirical evidence gathered during a field trip conducted during the months of July and August 2009 in Beijing and Sichuan (China). It is argued that educational NGOs and the state are engaging in interdependent type of relationships. However, the case study of Beijing Western Sunshine Rural Development Foundation will evidence that educational NGOs engage in more complex interdependent dynamics as they build necessary operational social networks with other non-state agents. Such phenomenon highlights the existence of civil society aspects in China.