| This dissertation examines evolving patterns of state-society relations in post-Mao China by conducting a study of one segment of Chinese society, Protestant Christians, and their interaction with political authorities. Analytically, I construct a typology comprised of three conceptual paradigms that are employed by scholars of state-society relations in contemporary China and other authoritarian regimes: administered mass organizations (AMOs), civil society, and social movements. To obtain greater analytical leverage in exploring variation and change in church-state relations, I conduct a comparative study of three distinct forms of Protestantism in China, the officially authorized Three-Self Patriotic Movement, unauthorized "house churches," and the Local Church, a transnational Protestant sect.; Although the study is more exploratory than deductive, it yields analytical insights that are central to scholarly debates over state-society relations in contemporary China and authoritarian regimes more broadly. First, the institutions and processes by which China's ruling Communist Party (CCP) seeks to control its Protestant population are entirely consistent with the forms of social control employed by a variety of 20th century military and single-party states, most accurately depicted in Gregory Kasza's administered mass organizations (AMO) model. In addition, authorities seek to refashion Protestant doctrines and identities in a way that accepts the CCP's policy platform as inevitable and natural, as hypothesized by hegemony theorists.; China's Protestants have employed a variety of resources to resist the state's control efforts, however. Within officially authorized organizations, congregations use "free social spaces" to cultivate their own norms of operation, and build up mutual trust, feelings of solidarity, and other forms of social capital. They have used these resources to defend their interests against state demands; moreover, the cultural values being generated within Protestant communities are largely consistent with the norms of liberal self-governance.; House church Protestants, in turn, have organized outside of official boundaries, and are mobilizing activists to effect changes in China's dominant culture and official policy. In short, they are forging a broad-based social movement.; Sectarian groups such as the Local Church partially exhibit characteristics of civic associations and of social movements, but neither completely, due largely to their exclusivity and enclave identity formation.; Together, these varied and evolving Protestant forms lead to the dissertation's primary conclusion: early-20th century administered mass organizations are increasingly ineffective tools for controlling China's dynamic and diverse society at the dawn of the new millennium. |
