China and the Rule of Law: Conceptions of Fairness and Justice in Times of Change

中国与法治：变革时代的公平正义理念

• 批准号: 0525023
• 负责人: Christine Avenarius
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: East Carolina University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-09-01 至 2008-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0525023&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: China; Rule; Law; Conceptions; Fairness

Since 1978 China has been immersed in a dramatic social and economic transition in which both wealth and inequality have increased. In addition China's legal system is experiencing unprecedented change, including the creation of new legal institutions and procedures. Although formal mediation in court and adjudication are becoming increasingly available, many disputes in China continue to be resolved by informal mediation. This form of mediation is oriented fundamentally by principles of reciprocity with the goal to reestablish harmony and peace in the social order. Yet economic reforms after more than 30 years of collectivization have created inequalities between people. This research project examines the influence of the recently introduced rule of law in China on the beliefs and perceptions of Chinese citizens regarding notions of justice, particularly fairness, and related beliefs concerning social relationships and preferred conflict resolution strategies. The study seeks to discover how changes in the system to date have impacted two populations: rural residents as well as urban residents within Hebei province. The data will be collected in two phases. The first phase focuses on collecting narratives and statements about fairness and beliefs about the importance of relationships in the conflict management process, specifically the role of particularistic ties, called guanxi in Chinese. These descriptions will be gathered from a sample of rural and urban residents. The second phase involves the collection of systematic interviews based on instruments developed during the exploratory component of the research with a representative sample of 120 urban and 120 rural households. This will provide data about the distribution of specific opinions, attitudes, and practices regarding dispute resolutions within the larger population. Methods include social network analysis, cultural consensus analysis, and linear modeling approaches. The broader impact of this project will be the increased availability of empirically derived insights that can aid in China's effort to incorporate elements of the rule of law in a rapidly changing economic environment. More information on the attitudes and expectations regarding legal reforms among the general public is needed given the growing number of challenges to maintain social order that the Chinese government had to face in recent years. Furthermore, this research project will build bridges in the international arena between the United States and China in the difficult to negotiate terrain of collaborative fieldwork. Collaborative research can strengthen continuing cooperation between scholars in the United States and China, especially in the field of cognitive anthropology and social network analysis. The training of graduate students in China and building of trans-pacific ties is likely to provide benefits in future years that may result in further opportunities for knowledge transfer.

自1978年以来，中国一直沉浸在一个戏剧性的社会和经济转型中，财富和不平等都在增加。此外，中国的法律的制度正在经历前所未有的变革，包括建立新的法律的机构和程序。虽然法院和裁决中的正式调解越来越多，但中国的许多纠纷仍然通过非正式调解解决。这种形式的调解基本上以互惠原则为导向，目的是在社会秩序中重建和谐与和平。然而，经过30多年的集体化之后，经济改革造成了人与人之间的不平等。 本研究项目考察了中国最近引入的法治对中国公民关于正义观念，特别是公平观念的信念和看法的影响，以及关于社会关系和首选冲突解决策略的相关信念。该研究旨在发现迄今为止该系统的变化如何影响两个人群：河北省内的农村居民和城市居民。数据将分两个阶段收集。第一阶段的重点是收集关于公平的叙述和陈述，以及关于冲突管理过程中关系重要性的信念，特别是特殊关系的作用，在中文中称为关系。这些描述将从农村和城市居民的样本中收集。第二阶段涉及收集系统访谈，访谈的基础是在研究的探索性部分中开发的工具，有代表性的样本为120个城市和120个农村家庭。这将提供关于更大人口中有关争端解决的具体意见、态度和做法的分布情况的数据。方法包括社会网络分析，文化共识分析和线性建模方法。 该项目的更广泛影响将是增加经验性见解的可用性，这些见解可以帮助中国在快速变化的经济环境中融入法治要素。鉴于近年来中国政府在维护社会秩序方面面临的挑战越来越多，需要更多关于公众对法律的改革的态度和期望的信息。此外，该研究项目将在国际竞技场上为美国和中国在难以协商的合作实地工作领域建立桥梁。合作研究可以加强中美两国学者之间的持续合作，特别是在认知人类学和社会网络分析领域。在中国培养研究生和建立跨太平洋关系可能会在未来几年带来好处，可能会带来更多的知识转移机会。