Dancing with Diversity?
The Evolving Party-Society Nexus in Urban China
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22439/cjas.v39i2.6400Keywords:
Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Primary Party Organisations (PPO), community governance, Leninist Institutional FrameworkAbstract
Rapid market transition in post-reform China has created various socioeconomic spaces that fall beyond the Leninist mode of control by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and thus constitutes a formidable challenge to its ruling capacity. This article examines the evolving adaptations of the CCP and the rise of a new form of Party-society nexus in urban China. We found that Party organisers have been fostering a spatial strategy in the context of ‘disorganised urban socialism’. By spanning institutional and sectoral gaps, engaging so-called ‘floating party members’, and developing community-based service networks, the Party has deliberately combined a specific social mechanism with the Leninist logic of organising. We conclude with a broader discussion of the possible scenario and political implication of CCP’s organisational consolidation from below.
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