The Role and Development of Grassroots NGOs in Eastern China

Abstract

The rapid development of the market economy has confronted China with a diversity of social changes in the public management and governance structure. NGOs make up for the lack of national capacity, providing a platform where citizens can participate in social development, in order to achieve harmonious coexistence between the state and civil society. Grassroots NGOs play an increasingly important role in the development of civil society. In this context, the development of grassroots public interest through NGOs targeting specific groups has caught the attention of the public.

This study uses civil society as a framework and explores the development of grassroots NGOs. It examines key factors and breakthrough points in the development of grassroots NGOs now and in future points of time.

The study concerns three classic representatives of this kind of organization: Loving Home, Green Stone and The Grassroots Home. The issues facing these individual organizations are in many ways representative of the larger issues facing grassroots NGOs in China. The study further examines the case of Xinyuan, a grassroots NGO in Eastern China. Based on observation and interviews, I find that its development is subject to the existing system similar to other NGOs. At the same time, its development has taken on a unique identity of its own. The Xinyuan’s way enables grassroots NGOs to build their own development track: I analyze how this NGO interacts with its surroundings – the Chinese system and society – from the perspective of an NGO worker and in the theoretical framework of civil society. In addition to sharing features with other NGOs, I find that this organization has a distinct personality and identity of its own. This study will serve as a reference platform for future researches into Chinese grassroots NGOs.