Tigers without Teeth

The Pursuit of Justice in Contemporary China

By (author) Scott Wilson

Not available to order

Publication date:

19 March 2015

Length of book:

276 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442236172

This compelling book analyzes the rise of civil society and legal contentiousness in contemporary China. Scott Wilson examines how Chinese AIDS carriers and pollution victims, relying on weak laws and judicial institutions, pursue justice and protection of their rights in Chinese courts and civil society. In exploring the “politics of justice” in China, the author contends that civil society and legal rights advance when their organizers have support from pockets of the Chinese Communist Party, resources from international groups, and the backing of protesters. Even lawsuits that fail in the courts can raise societal consciousness of social issues and can lead to revised state policies to address the substantive claims of disadvantaged citizens. Underlying the politics of justice is the regime’s attempt to balance commitments to legal development and its interest in regime stability. Wilson argues that the Chinese state has looked more favorably upon pollution victims’ civil-society organizations and lawsuits than those of AIDS carriers. Going beyond the standard overviews of China’s legal system, Tigers without Teeth is unique in its close comparison of legal activism on two sensitive and politically relevant social issues. It provides important insights into the development of civil society, as well as highlighting limitations to the pursuit of justice as the system balances between the development of rule of law and regime stability.

Preface
List of Acronyms
List of Tables
1 Introduction: “Tigers without Teeth?”
Dilemmas of Rule of Law and Civil Society in Nondemocratic Regimes
Challenges to the Pursuit of Legal Justice
Why Study Environmental Pollution Victims and HIV/AIDS Carriers?
Linking Civil Society Development, Litigation, and Rule of Law
Understanding the Divergent State Responses to Looming Crises
A Look Ahead
Notes
2 State Management of Civil Society and the Judiciary
Contending Approaches to Chinese Civil Society
Civil Society and the Judiciary as Arenas of Contestation
Categories of Civil Society Organizations and Registration Rules
Sources of Civil Society Organization Autonomy
Regulatory Changes and Control over Civil Society Organizations
UNAIDS and the Rift with China’s State over the Global Fund
China’s Judiciary
Party and State Influence over the Courts
Sources of Judicial Autonomy
Civil Society and Reining in Cause Lawyers
Conclusion: China’s State in the Trenches
Notes
3 The Development of China’s Environmental and HIV/AIDS Crises
Institutions and Epidemics in China
Marketization and Globalization
Legislation and Stigmatization
Ministry of Health
The Spread of HIV/AIDS in China
Institutional Origins of China’s Environmental Crisis
Environmental Regulations
Economic Institutions
The Environmental Protection Bureaucracy 7
China’s Environmental Decline 7
The Mao Era (1949–1978) 7
The Post-Mao Era (1978–Present)
Conclusion: Institutional Origins and Responses to Crises
Notes
4 Civil Society Responses to HIV/AIDS and Environmental Pollution
The Development of HIV/AIDS Organizations
SARS Crisis
China CARES Program
Limits to State-Centered Approaches to HIV/AIDS
International Efforts to Empower Chinese AIDS Groups and Their Limits
Chinese Grassroots NGOs—Bounded Autonomy
A Fractured Civil Society: China’s HIV/AIDS Organizations
Environmental Civil Society Groups
Emergence of Environmental Civil Society Groups
Environmental Legal Aid Groups
The Politics of Civil Society Development and Legal Aid
Notes 115
5 HIV/AIDS Carriers Settling for Discrimination
Legal and Regulatory Context of HIV/AIDS Carriers’ Rights
State Attempts to Keep HIV/AIDS Social Conflict Out of the Courts
Discrimination against HIV/AIDS Carriers
Discrimination and the Right to Health Care
Discrimination and Health Insurance
Employment Discrimination
Compensation for Contracting HIV/AIDS from the Mishandling of the Blood Supply
“We Cannot Control Our Anger Anymore”
Conclusion: Settling for Discrimination?
Notes
6 Litigating for Pollution Victims’ Rights
Development of Chinese Environmental Laws and Regulations
Development of Environmental Litigation in China
Joint Litigation
Health Damages
Right to Know
Halting Pollution Violations
Efforts to Improve Implementation of Environmental Regulations
“Scientific Development,” “Harmonious Society,” and Litigation
Notes
7 Who May Defend the “Public Interest”?
The Legal Basis of Chinese Environmental Public Interest Litigation
The Slow Development of Environmental Public Interest Litigation
Law Revisions and Environmental Public Interest Litigation
GONGO Leadership of Public Interest Litigation and Societal Quiescence
Courts and the Politics of Environmental Adjudication
Representing the Public Interest: Citizen-State Struggles in Civil Society
Notes
8 Conclusion: Helping Tigers Grow Teeth
Factors Propelling Rights Protection in China
International Funding and Linkages
Mobilization of Protest and Media
Litigation
Regime Allies
Obstacles to Rights-Based Contention
Uneven and Fragmented Civil Society
Decentralized and Fractured Bureaucracy and Judiciary
Is a Rights Revolution Incompatible with Regime Maintenance?
Notes
Interview List
Bibliography
Chinese Language Sources
About the Author

A thought-provoking treatment of the ‘politics of justice’ in China that focuses on legal activism by pollution victims and HIV/AIDS carriers. Wilson skillfully yokes together litigation, protest, and activities by civil society groups to give us a fresh perspective on regime legitimacy, legal change, political advocacy, rights consciousness, and the delivery of social justice in China.