Description
Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Katja Levy and Knut Benjamin Pissler offer a comprehensive overview of the contemporary legal and political frameworks within which Chinese charitable foundations operate, as well as an assessment of their historical and traditional contexts. They re-evaluate the existing literature on China's civil society, and provide a new, functional perspective on the role of foundations, complementing mainstream civil society and corporatist perspectives.
This incisive book will be invaluable reading for scholars researching the third sector in China, as well as practitioners working in this sector. Scholars and students of contemporary Chinese law, politics and society will also find its insights useful.
About the Author
Katja Levy, Technische Universitat Berlin and Knut Benjamin Pissler, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law,Hamburg, Germany
Reviews
'Charity with Chinese Characteristics has undeniable value as a source book. The citations and their comprehensiveness enhance this value. Scholars in topically related fields of study - including but not limited to civil society, welfare systems, authoritarian control systems, and political mechanisms at the grassroots - will find Charity with Chinese Characteristics useful as a comparative reference. For scholars of Chinese politics and society, and especially those working in the fields listed above, it is a recommended read.' -- Tom Cliff, The China Journal
'This book will likely serve as the authoritative account of the legal
'The volume by Levy and Pissler definitely enriches our knowledge of how public and private is intertwined in China, and how philanthropy and nonprofits are systematically used to achieve both an improvement of governance and simultaneously an intensification CPC hegemony. The authors successfully manage to unveil the often referred to "Chinese Characteristics" that might be translated into a combined notion of Foucault's approach of governmentality and the Gramscian concept of hegemony.' -- Annette Zimmer, VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary & Nonprofit Organizations
'Until recently, China had successfully followed the paths of Western governments eager to ease the regulatory barriers for large scale philanthropy in hopes of unlocking private resources to complement public expenditure. But as this deeply-researched, important study demonstrates, Chinese foundations only partially resemble their independent Western counterparts because they are effectively instrumentalized by the Chinese Party-state, as Levy and Pissler convincingly show by developing an innovative analytical framework. This book will be indispensable reading for anyone interested in Chinese philanthropy and civil society.'
--Stefan Toepler, George Mason University, US
'One of the most important developments in China in recent years has been the rise of new wealth and how the Chinese Communist Party is responding. Charitable foundations are increasing in number and taking on roles formerly the preserve of government agencies. In this important study, Levy and Pissler look at the development of the sector and the constraints placed upon it by the authorities. A well-informed and important book that should be read by all interested in developments in contemporary China.'
--Tony Saich, Harvard Kennedy School, US
'This is one of the first international books that deals with Chinese charitable foundations, broadly covering the third sector as well as the problems and opportunities of charity in China. It is an impressive interdisciplinary work authored by two renowned experts in the field. They rightly use a functional governance approach, present extensive historical and empirical data and provide excellent information on the current function of foundations in China's society. In sum: A book not to be missed.'
--Klaus J. Hopt, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Law, Germany
Book Information
ISBN 9781788115063
Author Katja Levy
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
Publisher Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd