The Advocacy Trap: Transnational Activism and State Power in China

Description

What does China's rise mean for transnational civil society? What happens when global activist networks engage a powerful and norm-resistant new hegemon? This book combines detailed ethnographic research with cross-case comparisons to identify key factors underpinning variation in the results and processes of advocacy on a range of issues affecting both China and the world, including global warming, intellectual property rights, HIV/AIDS treatment, the use of capital punishment, suppression of the Falun Gong religious movement, and Tibetan independence. Built on a unique blend of comparative and international theory, it advances the notion of "advocacy drift"-a process whereby the objectives and principled beliefs of activists are transformed through interaction with the Chinese state. The book offers a timely reassessment of transnational civil society, including its power to persuade and to leverage the policies of national governments. -- .

Stephen Noakes is Lecturer in Politics and International Relations and Asian Studies at the University of Auckland -- .

'The richness of the case studies would be well-paired with more direct quotes from the author's ethnographic research. The book, nonetheless, will be of interest to scholars and students interested in the broader aspects of transnational civil society and how the nature of political systems, such as that of China may affect the efficacy of such networks, campaigns and related goals.' Journal of Chinese Political Science -- .