{"product_id":"the-death-and-life-of-mujun-zhou-9780472057856","title":"The Death and Life of Chinese Civil Society","description":"\u003ci\u003eThe Death and Life of Chinese Civil Society\u003c\/i\u003e examines how a group of Chinese intellectual elites referred to as the liberals or \u003ci\u003eziyou pai \u003c\/i\u003eedified the civil society project beginning in the 1990s to build an independent space to constrain state power, increase political participation, and promote China's democratization. In the early 2000s, activists in movements such as the environmental and the AIDS movements identified with the liberals and regarded their activism as part of the project of building civil society. However, since the late 2000s the liberals' influence has gradually declined. In prominent social movements in the 2010s such as the labor and feminist movements, activists have openly criticized the liberal interpretation of civil society and regarded liberals' civil society agenda as irrelevant. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Mujun Zhou employs the concept of interstitial space, or the space where the exercise of power has not been fully institutionalized, to examine the history of the civil society project over the past three decades and its changing relationship with other social movements. Zhou suggests that by advocating for civil society the liberals gained allies and thematized many social problems rising during China's economic reform; however, liberals' activism also produced new forms of power inequalities. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Mujun Zhou\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0472057855\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780472057856\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Michigan Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/17\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 286\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.60h x 5.80w x 0.70d","brand":"Mujun Zhou","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48440967823615,"sku":"9780472057856","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_d81783ff-1d60-4062-a331-585d548685d9.jpg?v=1777187865","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-death-and-life-of-mujun-zhou-9780472057856","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}