The Inadvertent Civil Space: Sichuan 2008 Earthquake Recovery and Its Durable Aftermath

• In Event: 3167 - Section on Sociology of Development Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 1. Contemporary Issues in Environment and Social Relations

Abstract

Natural disasters leave penetrating scars on affected communities. For a state like China, which spares little effort to maintain harmony, disasters present a particularly thorny governance challenge. How does the Chinese state manage post-disaster uncertainty? We address this question through extensive interviews, conducted over the course of nearly a decade, in the city of Dujiangyan in Sichuan – the closest city to the epicenter when an earthquake struck on May 12, 2008. We document how, during the decade after the earthquake, some of the supposedly temporary disaster relief measures continue to figure prominently. They represent deviations from the political norm under increasingly tightened party-state rule. We argue that post-quake emergencies inadvertently give rise to a robust civil space for participation, consultation, engagement, and deliberation – a nascent Tocquevillian space. Yet this civil space is placed under the watchful eyes of the state. Thus, the prospect of such space maturing into civil society remains doubtful.

Author

• Yifei Li, New York University