Civil Society in China: The Legal Framework from Ancient Times to the 'New Reform Era'
ISBN: 9780199332540
Platform/Publisher: Oxford Academic / Oxford University Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Unlimited; Download: Unlimited
Subjects: Law;

This is the definitive book on the legal and fiscal framework for civil society organizations (CSOs) in China from earliest times to the present day. Civil Society in China traces the ways in which laws and regulations have shaped civil society over the 5,000 years of China's history and looks at ways in which social and economic history have affected the legal changes that have occurred over the millennia.

This book provides an historical and current analysis of the legal framework for civil society and citizen participation in China, focusing not merely on legal analysis, but also on the ways in which the legal framework influenced and was influenced in turn by social and economic developments. The principal emphasis is on ways in which the Chinese people - as opposed to high-ranking officials or cadres -- have been able to play a part in the social and economic development of China through the associations in which they participate.

Civil Society in China sums up this rather complex journey through Chinese legal, social, and political history by assessing the ways in which social, economic, and legal system reforms in today's China are bound to have an impact on civil society. The changes that have occurred in China's civil society since the late 1980's and, most especially, since the late 1990's, are nothing short of remarkable. This volume is an essential guide for lawyers and scholars seeking an in depth understanding of social life in China written by one of its leading experts.


Karla W. Simon is Professor of Law at the Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America. She is Co-Director with Dr. Frederick Ahearn of the Center for International Social Development, also at CUA. Professor Simon was previously a member of the faculties of the law schools at Seton Hall University and the University of San Diego, and she served as a visiting professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, Peking University, the University of Bologna, and Central European University. She received her JD from Duke University School of Law and her LLM from NYU. Her previous books include Outsourcing Social Services to Civil Society Organizations in China and Around the World (with Wang, Salamon & Irish 2009), Charity Law and Social Policy (with O'Halloran and McGregor-Lowndes 2008), and Guidelines for Laws Affecting Civic Organizations (with Irish and Kushen 2004).

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