Politicizing Spirituality: State-society Relations in China through the Case of Falun Gong

• In Event: 261 - Section on Political Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 15. Political community and power

Abstract

Recent explosive growth of Christian population and organizations in China resemble that of qigong groups two decades ago. Falun Gong, as a latecomer in the qigong boom which began in the 1980s, demonstrated a remarkable rate of growth and boasted an incredibly effective organizational structure which allowed Falun Gong to penetrate deeply and widely into the Chinese society. This paper seeks to identify the contributing factors to Falun Gong’s rapid nation-wide expansion by asking the question “why did Falun Gong gain sudden popularity among various social groups?” By tracing the developmental path of Falun Gong in comparison to that of environmental NGOs and gay and lesbian rights groups, I argue that state endorsement was the key to Falun Gong’s rapid nation-wide expansion and that Falun Gong and the Chinese government were in an interdependent relationship in the early phase of Falun Gong’s growth in mainland China.

Author

• Myunggyo Kim, Harvard University