Understanding Chinese rural protests through a social movement lens: A study of the Wukan protest

233 Pages·2017·2.94 MB·English

Understanding Chinese rural protests through a social movement
lens: A study of the Wukan protest

Bin Sun
MML, LLB

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at
The University of Queensland in 2017
School of Social Science
Abstract
Rapid urbanisation in China has led to large scale land acquisition to support urban growth. As
Chinese rural land is owned collectively and administered by the Villagers’ Committee (VC) of
each village, rural residents are sometimes excluded from bargaining while governments forcefully
acquire land, often with low compensation, compulsory acquisition and corruption among village
leaders. These disadvantages have generated discontent in some villages in recent years. With land
issues prompting 65 per cent of Chinese rural protests, as well as a host of similar protests around
the world, the incidence and forms of rural protest have been a topic of considerable interest among
scholars internationally. However, the distinct mechanisms of rural protest induced by land
acquisition in China have not been studied thoroughly, as this research aims to do.

The Wukan protest is a typical case of a rural protest linked to the transfer of village land to urban
land. The village is located in Lufeng City at the Southern coastline of China. Resistance against
land acquisition emerged there from 2009 and turned to protest on 21st September 2011 when
villagers launched a demonstration. The protest ended three months later, on 21st December 2011.
Due to the duration of the protest activities and the large number of people involved, the protest
shares some similarities with a social movement. Using the Wukan protest as a case study, this
thesis addresses three principal questions: How does local protest in rural China develop and evolve?
How effective is local protest in bringing about socio-political change in rural areas? To what extent
can local protests be understood as forming part of a broader rural social movement in China? By
answering these questions, the causes, process of development and outcomes of rural protest in
China will be better understood. Also, connections between rural protest and broader social
movements will be explored.

Social movement theory is applied to answer the research questions. It is argued that political
opportunities, resources and strategies determine the trajectory of collective oppositional actions.
The Political Process model of McAdam (1982), which incorporates these elements to analyse
social movements, offers a framework for explaining the Wukan protest. McAdam regards
conditions such as changing political opportunities that expand protesters’ power; well organised
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indigenous organisational strength; and a process of cognitive liberation as three requisites for
raising a social movement. This thesis borrows these concepts to explain the outburst of the Wukan
protest. Moreover, conceptions of social movements proposed by theorists such as Tilly (2005) and
Della Porta and Diani (2009) help to examine the similarities and distinctions between the Wukan
protest and a social movement, as does the work of Kolb (2007) on the outcomes of social
movements.

Data were collected and analysed under the principle of interpretivism which focuses on how
people make sense of their social reality and identifies the task of the researcher as that of
understanding and interpreting their ideas, feelings and motives about a particular social
phenomenon. In following this approach, I travelled to Wukan and stayed there for three months in
2013 to undertake participant observation of villagers’ daily life and a VC meeting, and conduct 21
semi-structured interviews with seven groups of interviewees. These primary data were
supplemented with documentary data in the form of newspaper articles and documents issued by
governments or provided by protesters. Data were analysed thematically to reveal the meanings and
ideas of interviewees.

By analyzing these data and using social movement theory as my analytical lens, I find three crucial
elements for the emergence of collective action in Wukan. To begin with, people became angry
about their current situation because they felt they had been deprived of their land – which the
former village cadres sold without their consent – and of the benefits accrued from the land sale.
These feelings of relative deprivation were amplified when villagers compared their situation with
that of rural residents in other villages and with the former village cadres. Second, expanding access
to Information and Communication Technologies, the process of urbanisation, the global financial
crisis in 2008 and placatory attitudes from higher level governments toward the local protest
constituted favourable political opportunities that facilitated the protest. Further, protest leaders
were able to enroll more participants into the protest and expand its scope and influence due to three
inter-related elements: the deployment of strategies that aroused villagers’ dissatisfaction towards,
and increased their confidence in successfully overturning, former village cadres; the enrolment of
indigenous organisations (including family committees and religious committees supported by
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long-established associational networks); and the formation of mobilising groups which helped to
mobilise more villagers to participate in the protest. These three elements were not proceeding
alone, but interplayed to generate the dynamic process of protest.

The Wukan villagers had some significant achievements as a result of the protest: some of the land
was retrieved; investments were made in improving infrastructure in the village; new village leaders
were selected by open election which was regarded by some as the first ever free, transparent and
democratic election in China (Gene, 2012); and village democratic structures in the form of a
Villagers’ Assembly and Villagers’ Representative Assembly were installed. However, the protest
did not achieve substantive structural or political change in the village: around one half of claimed
land is unlikely to be returned to the Wukan villagers; bribery and corruption among village
officials continued as a practice, even after the open election; and the Villagers’ Assembly and
Villagers’ Representative Assembly did not hold regular meetings as intended. This suggests that a
protest aiming at local targets and with specific, local demands cannot alter the political and cultural
institutions in a village which are founded on national systems of Chinese land ownership and
political institutions. The containment of the protest within the village or, at most the county,
suggests it cannot be regarded as a part of a social movement in rural China. Actually, the Wukan
protest suggests that a social movement is unlikely to emerge in rural China – at least for the
foreseeable future – because rural protesters have neither opportunity nor intention to oppose higher
authorities.

The importance of this research rests on five findings. First, this research finds that the changing
local power dynamics provide political opportunities for the generation of rural protests, suggesting
the phenomenon of rural protests in China is set to continue. Second, it shows that these protests,
when motivated by land acquisition, are economically rather than politically or culturally targeted,
meaning that the preservation of a peasant way of life is not the main priority, but rather a share in
the wealth of China’s growth and development. Thirdly, it demonstrates that traditional resources
including family clan and religious affiliation assist organisational strength which facilitates a
protest. Fourthly, that there is a clear distinction between protest and a social movement, as evident
in the Wukan case. While a social movement is collective action targeting central authorities for a
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systematic change, protests aim at rectifying specific local demands or grievances and are confined
to a local level of mobilisation. Finally, and not surprisingly, this latter kind of collective action will
not lead to broader changes as a social movement is likely to do.

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Declaration by author
This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or
written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly
stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis.

I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical
assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial
advice, financial support and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The
content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my higher
degree by research candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been
submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary
institution. I have clearly stated which part of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for
another award.

I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and,
subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available
for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has
been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School.

I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright
holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the
copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis and have sought permission from co-authors for
any jointly authored works included in the thesis.

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Publications during candidature

No publications

Publications included in this thesis

No publications included

Contributions by others to the thesis

No contributions by others

Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree

None

Research Involving Human or Animal Subjects

No animal or human subjects were involved in this research
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Acknowledgements
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my advisors Professor Lynda Cheshire and
Doctor Jo-Anne Everingham, who led me into this interesting field of research and trained me to be
a rigorous researcher. They, with great patience and enthusiasm, conveyed to me a spirit of
adventure in regard to research and scholarship throughout my life. Without their sustained
guidance, great support and encouragement, this PhD thesis would not have been possible.

Sincere gratitude is also extended to Emeritus Professor Geoffrey Lawrence for reviewing my
chapters during my milestone assessments and always providing valuable advice. I also thank
Professor Michael Woods from Aberystwyth University who offered me some helpful instructions
while he was travelling in Brisbane.

Acknowledgement is also given to my colleagues and friends: Dr. Naomi Smith, Dr. Andrew
Clarke, Ms. Lutfun Lata, Dr. Gillian Paxton, Dr. Lan Mai, Mr. PJ Holtum, Dr. Yang Ying, Dr.
Yanle Li, Dr. Suoying He, Dr. Yanfen Wen, Dr. Hongwei Zhang, Dr. Xue Bai, Dr. Xue Leng, Ms.
Wenjing Li, Dr. Zhilin Liu, and especially Dr. Ying Li, Dr. Xinxin Fan, and Dr. Yanshuang Zhang.
Their good advice, support and friendship have been invaluable on both an academic and a personal
level, for which I am extremely grateful.

The financial support received from the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) and the University of
Queensland International Research Tuition Awards (UQIRTA) are gratefully acknowledged.

In particular, I would like to express my considerable thanks and appreciation to the Wukan
villagers for their generosity and hospitality. I especially acknowledge the assistance of Ching who
took on the role of key informant and who provided me with accommodation and introduced me to
other villagers; the VC leader at the time who allowed me to participate in the VC meeting; and the
interviewees who gave up their time to talk to me and patiently answer my questions.

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Finally, I would like to thank my parents and parents-in-law, for their support and encouragement,
and their assistance in looking after my lovely son, Taotao, who I would like to thank for his sweet
smile. Special thanks go to my husband, Shujun Ma, for his great patience, financial and personal
support at all times.

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Financial support

This research was supported by an CSC-UQ PhD Scholarship.
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