Civil Society Networks in China and Vietnam: Informal Pathbreakers in Health and the Environment (Non-Governmental Public Action)

This book brings a fresh, original approach to understand social action in China and Vietnam through the conceptual lens of informal environmental and health networks. It shows how citizens in non-democratic states actively create informal pathways for advocacy and the development of functioning civil societies. "What a marvelous contribution to scholarship! This empirically rich and theoretically informed book by Andrew Wells-Dang makes a powerful argument for the centrality of networks in contemporary Chinese and Vietnamese civil societies. The comparative analysis of China and Vietnam is a significant achievement in itself."--Ben Kerkvliet, Emeritus Professor, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia 'A key future of civil society advocacy is in networks, and Andrew Wells-Dang's pioneering book explains how the cutting-edge process of NGO networking is helping to improve livelihoods, rights, the environment and government policy in China and Vietnam. This important volume will help show the way as the study of civil society networks expands in the years ahead. With this volume, Andrew Wells-Dang has done what many scholars hope to do - make a significant contribution to both research and policy advocacy.' Mark Sidel, Doyle-Bascom Professor of Law and Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin, USA 'The author presents an unprecedented, unique perspective to compare civil society networks and NGO advocacy in China and Vietnam. Through empirical case studies in real life context, this book reveals the subtle and complex dynamics of civil society in both countries, challenging the traditional analytical framework of state versus society.' - Fu Tao, China Development Brief, Beijing, China "Non-democratic states such as China and Vietnam are often assumed to lack functioning civil societies. In spite of apparent restrictions, the network members Andrew Wells-Dang studies actively create informal pathways for advocacy through cross-sectoral social networks. This book brings a fresh, original approach to understanding social action through the conceptual lens of informal environmental and health networks. Using personal relationships, media allies, and new technologies, activist networks are transforming public discourse and expanding political spaces. A series of rich and captivating case studies turn conventional depictions of controlled Chinese and Vietnamese civil societies on their heads. Wells-Dang demonstrates a wider range of advocacy techniques and strategies than previously documented in one-party authoritarian political systems. He argues convincingly that informal and virtual networks, rather than corporatist associations or autonomous non-profit organizations, are the true building blocks of civil society"--Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xii The Dynamic Societies of China and Vietnam....Pages 1-23 Redefining Civil Society: Networks and Advocacy....Pages 24-60 The Bright Future Group of People with Disabilities....Pages 61-84 The China Women’s Network against AIDS....Pages 85-105 Preserving Hanoi’s Reunification Park....Pages 106-135 The China Rivers Network....Pages 136-168 Conclusion: Civil Society Networks and Political Change....Pages 169-187 Back Matter....Pages 188-234