THESIS
2013
iv leaves, v-ix, 216 pages : illustrations ; 30 cm
Abstract
This study examines both the direct and indirect consequences of homeowners’
activism in urban China based on a collection of 191 cases of homeowners’ rights
protection activities between 1999 and 2012, in addition to author’s years of fieldwork in
urban communities in Beijing, and nearly one hundred interviews in Beijing, Shanghai,
Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Specially, the thesis explores the factors that determine the
direct outcome of homeowners’ rights-defending activities as well as the institutional
responses of the government and homeowners in dealing with the issues they face.
Using statistical analysis, it finds that the type of dispute, the number of participants,
the rights-defending methods, homeowner organization, and government response have
significant influence on...[
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This study examines both the direct and indirect consequences of homeowners’
activism in urban China based on a collection of 191 cases of homeowners’ rights
protection activities between 1999 and 2012, in addition to author’s years of fieldwork in
urban communities in Beijing, and nearly one hundred interviews in Beijing, Shanghai,
Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Specially, the thesis explores the factors that determine the
direct outcome of homeowners’ rights-defending activities as well as the institutional
responses of the government and homeowners in dealing with the issues they face.
Using statistical analysis, it finds that the type of dispute, the number of participants,
the rights-defending methods, homeowner organization, and government response have
significant influence on the outcome of homeowners’ resistance.
The findings of the case studies indicate that: (1) In government policy adjustment,
due to the fragmented state power, different government agencies take actions based on
their own cost-benefit calculations, which have inherent contradictions and cause the
reform to fall into the trap of stagnation. (2) To overcome the predicaments in self-governance
practice, some homeowner leaders have designed some institutional and
organizational innovations that influence the effectiveness of community governance.
(3) In homeowners’ activism, some homeowner leaders with dynamic and mixed
motivations emerged, shaping their behaviors and affecting their interaction with other
homeowners as well as community solidarity.
A comparison of three communities in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen demonstrates
that the emergence of capable and devoted leaders, a fully functioning homeowners’
committee, a united homeowner group, appropriate strategies, and control of financial
resources are necessary conditions for effective self-governance in the community.
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