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The Power of the Square: Public Spaces and Popular Mobilization after the Wenchuan Earthquake

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Abstract

The wave of volunteerism and popular participation in disaster relief activities after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in authoritarian China has attracted much academic attention. Existing literature leverages the erosion of state capacity, the moral symbolism and emotions of disaster relief, and civil society’s ability to provide crucial public goods and services to explain this popular mobilization ([12]; [15]; [22]). However, these arguments do not satisfactorily explain why sustained, self-organized non-state activities were concentrated in few sites across the region most affected by the earthquake. This paper investigates the lingering puzzle of uneven grassroots activities through the lens of spatial theory. I argue that conditions favorable to popular mobilization were mediated by the creation of large and accessible public spaces in the form of emergency shelters, breaking the ordinary cellular spatial order which enhances state control through partitioning, surveillance, and securitization. Public spaces open to all increased contact among citizens, enabled coordination and collective activities, and created new common symbols and histories, thus facilitating sustained and self-organized popular activities. To test this theory, I conduct a most similar cases comparison between two prefectural-level cities, Deyang and Mianyang, in Sichuan province. I demonstrate that despite the similar lack of civil society organizations before the earthquake and similar needs after the earthquake, Mianyang saw more sustained grassroots activities due to the presence of large, dense, highly visible and accessible emergency shelters, while Deyang’s distributed emergency resettlement strategies better maintained the cellular spatial order that left few sites for sustained popular activities. This paper seeks to understand the spatial nature of popular mobilization and aims to address a so far understudied element of civil society formation in China.

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Notes

  1. Xinhua News Agency, “截至9月22日12时四川汶川地震已确认69,227人遇难 [As of 12 a.m., on September 22nd, 69,227 people had been killed due to Sichuan Wenchuan Earthquake],” 22 September, 2008. http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2008-09/22/content_1102192.htm.

  2. Zhao, Yahui, “中国坚信:一切可以从头再来 [China firmly believes that everything can start over again],” People’s Daily. 4 September, 2008.

  3. Ministry of Civil Affairs. 2008. 民政部公告第135号 [Ministry of Civil Affairs Announcement 135]. http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2009-03-20/133917448144.shtml.

  4. China Charity Information Center, “民政部发布2007年度中国慈善捐赠情况分析报告 [Ministry of Civil Affairs publishes 2007 China Philanthropic Donations Report],” 31 January, 2008. http://www.gov.cn/gzdt/2008-01/31/content_876526.htm.

  5. Jiang, Yi, Yi Huang and Jian Yuan, “汶川地震一周年:百万志愿者彰显’中国力量’ [One Year Anniversary of Wenchuan Earthquake: Millions of Volunteers demonstrate ‘Chinese strength’],” 15 May, 2009. http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2009-05/15/content_1315960.htm.

  6. Xiao, Yanling, “四川官员谈‘下跪事件’:下跪并不是因为心中有愧 [Sichuan official discusses ‘kneeling incident’: I did not kneel out of guilt],” 新京报Beijing News, 11 May, 2009.

  7. The prefecture of Deyang does publish a daily paper, but papers from before 2011 have not been archived digitally and physical papers cannot be found.

  8. State Council. 2008. “国务院关于印发汶川地震灾后恢复重建总体规划的通知 [Announcement on distributing the Wenchuan earthquake reconstruction plan from the state council].” 国发[2008]31号, http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2008-09/23/content_1103686.htm (accessed August 11, 2018).

  9. Interview, April 9, 2016, Mianyang.

  10. Interview, June 11, 2016, Mianyang.

  11. He, Lidan, “目击唐家山堰塞湖下游20万人大转移 [Witnessing the evacuation of 200,000 downstream from Tangjiashan earthquake lake],” 新民周刊 [Xinmin Weekly], 14 June, 2008.

  12. Zheng, Degang, Guanghua He, and Hongtao Cao, “456万震区群众妥善安置 [4.56 million people in the earthquake region appropriately settled],” People’s Daily, 19 August, 2008, http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2008-05/19/content_48552262.htm (accessed August 11, 2018).

  13. Luo, Xuanqing and Hai Xing, “四川九洲体育馆灾民预计7月1日前全部撤离 [Evacuees at Jiuzhou Stadium expected to leave by July 1],” 华西都市报 [Huaxi City Newspaper], 23 June, 2008, http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2008-06-23/064015796849.shtml (accessed August 11, 2018).

  14. Interview, May 31, 2016, April 7, 2016, Chengdu.

  15. Interview, April 18, 2016, Mianyang.

  16. Interview, April 11, 2016, Mianyang.

  17. Xinhua News Press, “温家宝在四川绵阳地震灾民安置点看望灾民 [Wen Jiabao visits evacuees at emergency shelters in Mianyang, Sichuan],” The Central People’s Government of China website, 14 May, 2008, http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2008-05/14/content_971585.htm (accessed August 21, 2019).

  18. Interview, April 11, 2016, Mianyang.

  19. Interview, April 18, 2016, Mianyang.

  20. Interview, August 9, 2017, Mianyang.

  21. Interview, June 23, 2016, Mianyang.

  22. Interview, August 9, 2017, Mianyang.

  23. Yang, Yang, “绵竹之行 [Mianzhu trip],” 世代 [Cosmos China], Fall 2008.

  24. Document collected by the Sichuan Provincial Party School Wenchuan Earthquake archive. 抗震救灾情况调查(三). May 26;

  25. Document collected by the Sichuan Provincial Party School Wenchuan Earthquake archive. 抗震救灾情况调查(三). May 25, 2008.

  26. Document collected by the Sichuan Provincial Party School Wenchuan Earthquake archive. 抗震救灾情况调查(二). May 23.

  27. Tan, Jiangqi, “蒋巨峰在德阳调研安置住房建设和恢复生产情况 [Jiang Jufeng visits Deyang researching temporary housing construction and production recovery],” Sichuan Daily, July 4, 2008, http://www.gov.cn/gzdt/2008-07/04/content_1035925.htm (accessed August 15, 2018).

  28. Beichuan completed temporary housing at the end of August ([1], 309); Jiangyou also completed temporary housing at the end of August (Jiangyou Earthquake Records Committee 2015, 106).

  29. Interview, June 11, 2016, Deyang.

  30. Dujiangyan City Government, “都江堰市人民政府办公室关于在集中安置点开展管理工作星级评定的通知 [Announcement on the evaluation of temporary housing communities from the Dujiangyan government],” 都委办(2008)201号; Chengdu Bureau of Civil Affairs & Chengdu Real Estate Management Bureau, “关于做好地震灾区我市活动板房安置点物业服务工作的通知 [Announcement on servicing earthquake evacuees and mobile home communities],” 成房发[2008]109号, 11 August, 2008, http://www.chinalawedu.com/falvfagui/fg22598/265381.shtml (accessed March 15, 2019).

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  1. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Huan Gao

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Gao, H. The Power of the Square: Public Spaces and Popular Mobilization after the Wenchuan Earthquake. J OF CHIN POLIT SCI 25, 89–111 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-019-09643-w

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