Local social change in China: The state as social actor. Paris, France. 30/09/2024-3/10/2024.

The Local China Project, funded by the European Union and organised by the China Studies Centre, the University of Sydney, is designed to produce research that both describes and explains social, political, and economic change in the People’s Republic of China through the dynamics of development at local levels. The identification of ‘local’ China in this context is to emphasise the variety of experience across China, within city regions, counties, cities, towns and villages, and in everyday life. More details about the project could be accessed via the official website of the China Studies Centre here.

In September 2024, the project hosted its second annual workshop in Paris (in cooperation with Sciences Po) to examine ‘Local Social Change in China: The State as Social Actor’. It brought a group of scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds to examine recent social changes in local China and how those changes interact within the political system. The attendants include David Goodman, Jean-Louis Rocca, Pierre Landry, Anthony Welch, Yingjie Guo, Bingqin Li, Zhilin Liu, Beibei Tang etc., and the discussants include Jane Duckett, Shaun Breslin, Anna Ahlers, Fiona Gill etc.

Prof. Fulong Wu, Prof. Fangzhu Zhang, and Dr. Ying Wang participated in the workshop to present their recent research on participatory micro-regeneration in Qinghe, Beijing. The discussant and attendees engaged in in-depth discussions of the research, offering insights into potential research directions on grassroots governance innovations in China, as well as possibilities for further conceptualisation and theorisation. Additionally, the experts explored future research agendas concerning local governance in China. They emphasised its complexity and the need to examine the dynamic relationship between the party-state and society from various perspectives, such as time, space, intention, capacity, and agency.

Photos by Ying Wang