Hexie Shehui Research Articles

Jump cut to development: the visual rhetoric of internal migration narratives in the PRC

This article examines video narratives from two North China migrant NGOs in relation to the topic of national development. It argues that state-based discourses of harmonious society, or hexie shehui, are reconfigured visually in a migrant context through metaphors of balance and home, both of which challenge dominant paradigms of differential migrant citizenship as established by the changing yet resilient hukou permanent residency laws. The rhetoric of development in China is ambiguous in relation to humanitarian operations there, given the unusual and complex relationship between civil society and the state. The videos analyzed in this article appropriate development values experientially, in the process revealing the importance of alternative autonomies within Chinese society.

Whither Weiwen?

As the dust settles on the intergenerational transfer of power accomplished by the Chinese Communist Party after protracted factional struggles and Intense behind-the-door bargaining, the clamour for political reform Is growing louder yet. Critics have looked back upon the last decade presided over by Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao with disappointment. Study Times editor Deng Yuwen penned damning critique listing ten grave problems (shida wenti as the pair's political legacy (zhengzhi yichan iEjcjqilf2), stating that the problems engendered In the past decade may well outweigh the achievements. d) Writing In Foreign Affairs, Damien Ma blames the administration for leaving behind a political environment that Is likely more corrupt and stifling than the relatively entrepreneurial and liberal era of the 1990s. $ China Watcher David Shambaugh describes Hu as arch-conservative, cautious, risk-averse, stability-obsessed apparatchik. (3) Gao Wenqian, senior advisor of Human Rights In China, goes further In suggesting that the departing president's greatest political legacy Is stability maintenance with an iron fist.Indeed, weiwen, the shorthand for stability maintenance in Chinese (weihu wending IIfNIAE), has become closely associated with the suppressive governance approach of the Hu-Wen administration and the drastic expansion of the political-legal and public security apparatus that took place under Its supervision. First used by Deng Xiaoping and Injected Into the official discourse with Its coming-of-age appearance In the headline of People's Daily- Stability above all (wendingyadaoyiqie IIAEliffl-fjl) - on the first year anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, the currency of the term wending has coincided with major social conflicts such as the 1999 nationwide campaign against members of the outlawed Falun Gong.(5) But It was from the mld-2000s onwards, In the 17th Party Congress era In tandem with Hu's slogan of building harmonious society (hexie shehui iflittt#), that weiwen visibly gained In rhetorical ascendance and evolved Into an overarching national priority.The connotation of the term has since grown Irreversibly negative as the security-driven state employed high-handed means of violence against Its own citizens In the name of preserving stability. The Chongqing fallout, and the subsequent exposure of the excesses of Bo Xilai and his security aide Wang Lljun's strong-fisted campaigns, has nonetheless created an exceptional window of opportunity for reining In the burgeoning power of the political-legal apparatus and for critical re-examination of the enshrined weiwen approach. we enter the 18th Party Congress era, are we looking at any signs of change? This paper suggests that despite hints of reform, recent appointments show that the central elite remains preoccupied with stability concerns and that resistance to change remains strong at both the central and local levels of government. The apparent scaling back of the political-legal apparatus has been accompanied by the parallel rise of the social management regime, which may become reinvented form of social control. There are nonetheless encouraging signs towards reforming Institutions of violence compilât In disciplining misbehaving citizens, but meaningful change would require fundamental reform In how successful governance Is defined and measured.Weakened political-legal apparatus?The announcement of the new line-up of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) In November 2012 concluded months of speculation with list of names that ultimately thwarts the hopes of reformists. Not only are the relatively liberal Wang Yang and LI Yuanchao not In the top seven, but many In the new PSC enjoy close ties with former president Jiang Zemin, demonstrating the triumph of political conservatism and the Influence of Party elders. Nonetheless, one Important Indication of progress can be found In the reduction of the size of the PSC from nine to seven members, which has meant the effective downgrading of the Internal security portfolio. …

Does China's recent ‘harmonious society’ discourse reflect a shift towards human development?

This paper analyses whether the Chinese state's recent efforts since 2003 to build a ‘harmonious society’ (HS; hexie shehui) represents an ideological shift towards global human development (HD) norms promoted by the United Nations. At first glance, the one-party authoritarian state of China seems worlds apart from the more inclusive HD approach. However, China's increasing emphasis on rebuilding health insurance, expanding compulsory education and reducing inter-regional inequalities somewhat resembles HD. To clarify these ambiguities, the study analyses recent PRC social development reports and scholarly debates to understand the HS ideology. The paper concludes with a critical assessment of HS discourse and a clarification of six key dimensions on which the HS appears to differ from the HD approach to development.

Traitement moral de la question sociale dans la « société harmonieuse » de Hu Jintao

Chinese society in the beginning of this twenty-first century is undermined by growing socioeconomic and regional inequalities, as China has been disrupted by the reforms launched by Deng Xiaoping since 1978, by the transition from a planned economy to a market economy and by the expansion of a mass consumer society. The discourse of « harmonious society » (hexie shehui 和谐社会), an official program introduced by President Hu Jintao in 2005, took place in this particular context to pacify social unrests. This dissertation aims to dismantle the strategies used by the « harmonious society » and to reveal that this discourse advocates social harmony not by resolving social inequities but by accepting them. Hexie shehui is part of a larger and earlier civilizing process of Chinese underprivileged population, since it appears to be a tool to control and discipline the poor and offers ethics response to social issues.

An Analysis of China's Shifting Development Paradigm: Increasing Disparity, Social Unrests, and the CPC's Survival

China's development-paradigm is transforming from Xianfu lun (getting rich first) toward Xiaokang Shehui (well-off society). Building Hexie Shehui (harmonious society) is the key subject of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan of China. Behind the ambitious Eleventh Five-Year Plan, there is a serious problem that China is one of the worst countries in terms of Gini coefficient. Aware of the seriousness of the problem for both social security and regime legitimacy, Chinese leadership has addressed it by adopting a new doctrine of ‘harmonious society’. Despite the new slogan of building “Hexie Shehui,” the gap between the have and the have-not rather continues to grow. This paper traces domestic policy changes since Deng's economic reform. It examines the effects of policy changes on rising disparity and its social consequences. It finally suggests a policy implication.

Gated Communities and Migrant Enclaves: the conundrum for building ‘harmonious community/shequ’

This article looks at the Chinese state's community/shequ building effort to govern a more heterogeneous and mobile population in urban China so that a ‘harmonious society’ (hexie shehui) can be achieved. Shequ building initiatives move away from the governance model based on direct government and administrative control, and toward a new model of structured community self-governance. Within some communities, this new model has faced challenges that appear to arise from the new diversity of interests that characterize Chinese cities today. The article acknowledges that social complexity often begets organizational challenges for emerging shequ organizations; but it also suggests that the social simplification of individual shequ is a tendency that has wider negative social implications and needs itself to be resisted.

China's Water Scarcity and “Hexie Shehui (Harmonious Society)”

The “hexie shehui (harmonious society)” is China's new slogan under the Hu Jintao regime, which pursues social and political stability based on sustainable development and people's welfare. However, the country's severe water scarcity and pollution has been a clear fault line in its path to this “harmonious society”. It has threatened people's sustenance; caused grain loss; brought about aquifer depletion and its following land subsidence and seawater penetration; induced water‐seeking migration; and, significantly, triggered conflicts and protests for water. China's political leaders are highly aware of the gravity of the problem and have contrived water‐conservancy programs. However, as the Yellow River Allocation Program, the water consumption quota system/water price increase, and forestation programs demonstrate, the programs have not been implemented effectively due to their institutional flaws as well as the local government's parochialism and corruption.