Rethinking Global Civil Society in an Era of a Rising China

Abstract

The concept of global civil society arose out of a language, culture and definition influenced by mainstream Western political philosophy and discourse, and the behaviour of Western NGOs that proliferated in the latter part of the 20th century. The recent rise of Chinese social organizations internationally – who were born, developed and prospered in a domestic authoritarian institutional environment with varying values and norms than their Western counterparts – suggests a rethink of how global civil society is conceived. Namely, as Chinese social organizations internationalize, they ultimately export to host nations their best/worst practices, modes of operation, organizational behaviour, and their values and norms. This article looks at the experiences of Chinese social organizations domestically and abroad, and discerns how their actions and behaviour potentially confirms, modifies and/or rejects the contemporary conceptual understanding of global civil society.