Playing by the Informal Rules
Why the Chinese Regime Remains Stable despite Rising Protests

Sheds new light on social protest and its implications on power, rules, legitimacy, and resistance in modern societies.

Yao Li (Author)

9781108456654, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 May 2021

229 pages, 19 b/w illus. 13 tables
22.8 x 15.1 x 1.4 cm, 0.36 kg

'Playing by the Informal Rules is a carefully-researched and important contribution to the debates on popular contention in China and protest in authoritarian regimes.' H. Christoph Steinhardt, Democratization

Growing protests in non-democratic countries are often seen as signals of regime decline. China, however, has remained stable amid surging protests. Playing by the Informal Rules highlights the importance of informal norms in structuring state-protester interactions, mitigating conflict, and explaining regime resilience. Drawing on a nationwide dataset of protest and multi-sited ethnographic research, this book presents a bird's-eye view of Chinese contentious politics and illustrates the uneven application of informal norms across regions, social groups, and time. Through examinations of protests and their distinct implications for regime stability, Li offers a novel theoretical framework suitable for monitoring the trajectory of political contention in China and beyond. Overall, this study sheds new light on political mobilization and authoritarian resilience and provides fresh perspectives on power, rules, legitimacy, and resistance in modern societies.

1. Introduction: rising protests and regime stability
2. Mapping the space for protest
3. Accommodating informal norms in regime-engaging protests
4. Unequal application of accommodating informal norms: inequality in protest space
5. Antagonistic informal norms in regime-threatening protests
6. Conclusion
Appendix I
Appendix II
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Political control & freedoms [JPV], Comparative politics [JPB], Political science & theory [JPA]