This book is the first monograph to provide a multilevel analysis of power dynamics underlying the governance of philanthropic foundations in the authoritarian context of China.As a special kind of organization with a democratic culture, Chinese foundations' governance is under more pressure than we realize. The government has been evolving its methods to impose stringent control over foundations (Chapter 3) and "purer" foundations highly dependent on individual donations are more likely to adopt authoritarian leadership styles rather than being mechanisms spreading democratic values in Chinese society (Chapter 4). However, this practice does not come without a price. Given power's double-edge of both enabling and constraining effects, although strongman leaders may use their power to get things done, their power may also cause the problem of accountability (Chapter 5). Overall, Chinese society is a stable system with authoritarian power modes. This system is not static but in constant flux, homogenizing incompatible parts until all units of the system adopt the same power mode. This book establishes a comprehensive and bleak picture of the unfavorable conditions foundations in China face and provides valuable insights to understand the future of the nonprofit sector in China. This book will be of interest to students and researchers in the fields of sociology, political science, and nonprofit studies (NGO management). It will also be a valuable resource for NGP practitioners.Qian Wei holds a PhD in Sociology, and she is a postdoctoral researcher at the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society at Stanford University. Her research interests broadly focus on the sociology of organization, political sociology, civil society, international development, and quantitative methods. Particularly, she has published research on NGOs in authoritarian China, nonprofit leaders' power, and human rights in developing countries. Her work has appeared in journals such as The Sociological Quarterly and VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations.
What We Talk About When
We Talk About Governance
A Power Perspective and Three Levels of Analysis
This book is an in-depth study of the power dynamics underlying the governance of organizations, using philanthropic foundations in authoritarian China as a case. Unlike many other books on Chinese civil society organizations (CSOs), which usually start by introducing the background of CSOs in China, this book's first chapter proposes an innovative approach -the perspective of power -to examine governance and build a multilevel framework based on power to investigate foundation governance in China. An overview of Chinese civil society organizations and philanthropic foundations, as a special type of CSO, will be provided in the second chapter. By doing so, this book aims not only to examine the governance of philanthropic foundations in China but also to offer a framework to understand the governance of organizations generally.Over the last few decades, the concept of "governance" has become a buzzword and a prominent research agenda in the social sciences. While this term has come to be frequently used, the study of governance has been both plagued and blessed by its multiple and sometimes ambiguous meanings (Levi-Faur 2012; Pierre and Peters 2000; Pollitt and Bouckaert 2011). On the one hand, the inclusive and flexible capacity of "governance" gives rise to creative ways to employ this concept in a variety of disciplines; on the other, the use of the same term may have distinct implications in different contexts and lead to confusion. For instance, a large body of literature has examined "the governance of nonprofit organizations," but I found that many studies use the same term "governance" with different meanings. Some studies refer to how the state involves, regulates, and governs the nonprofit sector (

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Taylor & Francis Group

Taylor & Francis Ltd

Routledge research on the politics and sociology of China, Abingdon, Oxon, 2023

Taylor & Francis (Unlimited), Abingdon, Oxon, 2023

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

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