Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T04:30:58.974Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Maintaining Stability by Law: Protest‐Supported Housing Demolition Litigation and Social Change in China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Xin He
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Housing demolition has been one of the major sources of social conflict in contemporary China. Drawing on evidence collected in fieldwork investigations, this article examines the pressure of protest‐supported housing demolition litigation and its impacts. It finds that under the pressure of litigation, the courts have devised coping mechanisms to constrain the housing demolition authorities, and that social change angling toward more transparency and accountability has occurred. The article argues that this change is made possible as the maintenance of social stability has become not only the paramount concern of the regime, but also the performance assessment criterion for local officials and judges. The findings deepen our understanding of the causes and consequences of judicial empowerment in China and shed light on the dynamics of judicial politics in other regimes.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 39 , Issue 4 , Fall 2014 , pp. 849 - 873
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Albiston, Catherine R. 2005. Bargaining in the Shadow of Social Institutions: Competing Discourses and Social Change in Workplace Mobilization of Civil Rights. Law & Society Review 39:11–50.Google Scholar
Baiduwenku. 2011. Nantong. http://wenku.baidu.com/view/796bc41cc281e53a5802ff39.html (accessed May 5, 2013).Google Scholar
Balme, Stephanie 2009. Ordinary Justice and Popular Constitutionalism in China. In Building Constitutionalism in China, ed. Balme, Stephanie and Dowdle, Michael, 179–198. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Beijing Times. 2007. 浙江台州探索以异地管辖破解民告官难题 [Taizhou in Zhejing Experiments Crossed Jurisdictions Over Administrative Litigation]. http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2007‐04/12/content_5964787.htm (accessed May 5, 2013).Google Scholar
Biddulph, Sarah 2009. Justice and Order in Shanghai: The Case of Forced Housing Demolition and Relocation. In 21th Century China: Views from Australia, ed. Farquhar, Mary, 47–69. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar
Brigham, John 1987. Right, Rage, and Remedy: Forms of Law in Political Discourse. Studies in American Political Development 2:303–316.Google Scholar
Brown‐Nagin, Tomiko 2005. Elites, Social Movements, and the Law: The Case of Affirmative Action. Columbia Law Review 105:1436–1528.Google Scholar
Burstein, Paul 1991. Legal Mobilization as a Social Movement Tactic: The Struggle for Equal Employment Opportunity. American Journal of Sociology 96:1201–1225.Google Scholar
Cai, Yongshun 2010. Collective Resistance in China. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Carothers, Thomas 1998. The Rule of Law Revival. Foreign Affairs 95:95–106.Google Scholar
CCP News Net. 2010. 征地拆迁中被拆迁人的几种表现值得研究 [Several Phenomena of the People Affected by Land Requisition and Housing Demolition Need Attention]. http://djxt.yzjsj.gov.cn/showArticle.jsp?id=9525&partyId=50 (accessed November 21, 2011).Google Scholar
Chanock, Martin 1985. Law, Custom, and Social Order: The Colonial Experience in Malawi and Zambia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Chen, Feng, and Xu, Xin 2012. “Active Judiciary”: Judicial Dismantling of Workers' Collective Action in China. China Journal 67:87–107.Google Scholar
Chongqing Municipality. 2010. 基层反映征地拆迁中被拆迁群众“跨区串联”现象突出应予高度重视 [Trans‐Local Association Among Residents Stands Out in Housing Demolition and Deserves Special Attention]. http://www.pacq.gov.cn/platform/news_view.asp?newsid=2070 (accessed October 26, 2010).Google Scholar
Clarke, Donald C. 2009. “Lawsuits as Criticisms,” Commentary. New York Times, June 2. http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/chinas‐new‐rebels/ (accessed October 10, 2012).Google Scholar
Dowdle, Michael W. 2009. Beyond “Judicial Power”: Courts and Constitutionalism in Modern China. In Building Constitutionalism in China, ed. Balme, Stephanie and Dowdle, Michael, 199–220. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Du, Mong 2007. 政府发文将出庭率纳入考核“逼”官出庭, 法院千余件司法建议“促”官出庭—解读江苏“告官见官”为何成常态 [Government Directives Pressure Officials into Taking on the Stand, More than One Thousand Judicial Suggestions Facilitate Officials to Take on the Stand: Why Can Plaintiffs Meet the Officials in Citizens vs. Mandarin Litigation in Jiangsu Province?]. Legal Daily (法制日报). http://news.sohu.com/20070919/n252232641.shtml (accessed May 26, 2011).Google Scholar
Epp, Charles 1990. Connecting Litigation Levels and Legal Mobilization: Explaining Interstate Variation in Employment Civil Rights Litigation. Law & Society Review 24:145–164.Google Scholar
Erie, Matthew S. 2012. Property Rights, Legal Consciousness and the New Media in China: The Hard Case of the Toughest Nail‐House in History. China Information 26:35–59.Google Scholar
Finder, Susan 1989. Like Throwing an Egg Against a Stone—Administrative Litigation in the People's Republic of China. Journal of Chinese Law 3:1–28.Google Scholar
Forum Hexun. 2009. 安徽芜湖发生非法强制拆迁大案, 近200人强拆一民房 [Report of Illegal Demolition in Wuhu, Anhui]. http://xwjdw.blog.hexun.com/44438869_d.html (accessed September 4, 2013).Google Scholar
Forum Weiquan. 2010. 南通市崇川区人民法院偏袒被告违规审理, 拆迁行政诉讼案件纪实 [Report of Complaints by Litigants in Jiangsu]. http://www.weiquan365.com/bbs/index_main.asp?zhuzi=dispbbs&boardid=67&id=14576 (accessed September 4, 2013).Google Scholar
Forum 0513. 2007. 张永泉拆迁案发回一审南通崇川区法院重审即将开庭 [Zhang's Trial in Nantong, Jiangsu]. http://bbs.0513.org/thread‐144359‐1‐1.html (accessed September 4, 2013).Google Scholar
Forum 163. 2010. 强制拆除我祖祖辈辈居住的房屋 [Forced Demolition of Ancestors' Home, Fuzhou, Fujian]. http://bbs.gz.house.163.com/bbs/rights/183099835.html (accessed September 4, 2013).Google Scholar
Galanter, Marc. 1974. Why the “Haves” Come Out Ahead: Speculations on the Limits of Legal Change. Law & Society Review 9:95–126.Google Scholar
Gallagher, Mary, and Wang, Yuhua 2011. Users and Non‐Users: Legal Experience and its Effect on Legal Consciousness. In Chinese Justice: Civil Dispute Resolution in Contemporary China, ed. Woo, M. and Gallagher, M., 204–233. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ginsburg, Tom 2008. Administrative Law and the Judicial Control of Agents in Authoritarian Regimes. In Rule by Law: The Politics of Courts in Authoritarian Regimes, ed. Ginsburg, Tom and Moustafa, Tamir, 58–72. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ginsburg, Tom, and Moustafa, Tamir (eds.). 2008. Rule by Law: The Politics of Courts in Authoritarian Regimes. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Handler, Joel 1978. Social Movements and the Legal System: A Theory of Law Reform and Social Change. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
He, Xin 2007. Why Do They Not Take the Disputes? Law, Power, Politics in the Decision‐Making of Chinese Courts. International Journal of Law in Context 3:203–225.Google Scholar
He, Xin 2009. Administrative Law as a Mechanism for Political Control in Contemporary China. In Building Constitutionalism in China, ed. Balme, Stephanie and Dowdle, Michael, 143–162. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
He, Xin 2012. Black Hole of Responsibility: The Adjudication Committee's Role in a Chinese Court. Law & Society Review 46 (4): 681–712.Google Scholar
He, Xin 2013. Judicial Innovation and Local Politics: Judicialization of Administrative Governance in East China. China Journal 69:20–42.Google Scholar
He, Xin, and Ng, Kwai 2013. Pragmatic Discourse and Gender Inequality in China. Law & Society Review 47 (2): 279–310.Google Scholar
He, Xin, and Su, Yang 2013. Do the “Haves” Come Out Ahead in Shanghai Courts? Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 10 (1): 121–146.Google Scholar
He, Xin, Wang, Lungang, and Su, Yang 2013. Above the Roof, Beneath the Law: Perceived Justice Among Migrant Wage Claimants in China. Law & Society Review 47 (4): 703–738.Google Scholar
Houtzager, Peter P. 2005. The Movement of the Landless (MST), Juridical Field, and Legal Change in Brazil. In Law and Globalization from Below, ed. De Sousa Santos, Boaventura and Rodriguez‐Garavito, Cesar A., 218–240. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jacobs, Andrew 2011. Harassment and Evictions Bedevil Even China's Well‐Off. New York Times, October 28, A4.Google Scholar
Lam, Willy 2011. Beijing's Blueprint for Tackling Mass Incidents and Social Management. China Brief 11 (5), 3. http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no%20cache=1&tx%20ttnews%5Btt%20news%20%5D=37696&tx%20ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=517 (accessed September 4, 2013).Google Scholar
Landry, Pierre 2008. The Institutional Diffusion of Courts in China: Evidence from Survey Data. In Rule by Law: The Politics of Courts in Authoritarian Regimes, ed. Ginsburg, Tom and Moustafa, Tamir, 207–234. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lee, Ching Kwan 2007. Against the Law: Labor Protests in China's Rustbelt and Sunbelt. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Li, Li 2011. Strategies for Judicial Restraint in Chinese Group Action Cases: A Realistic Reaction to Judicialization. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.1789564.Google Scholar
Liaowang Newsweek. 2006. 中国基层法院面临民告官案件大幅增长诉讼压力 [Caseload Pressures in Administrative Litigation Mounted for China's Basic‐Level Courts]. http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2006‐04‐22/12159690235.shtml (accessed November 21, 2011).Google Scholar
Liberthal, Kenneth, and Oksenberg, Michel 1988. Policy Making in China: Leaders, Structures, and Processes. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Liebman, Benjamin 2011. A Populist Threat to China's Courts? In Chinese Justice, ed. Woo, M. and Gallagher, M., 269–313. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Liebman, Benjamin 2013. Court in the Shadow of Protest: Medical Malpractice Lawsuits in China. Columbia Law Review 113:181–264.Google Scholar
Liu, Changfeng 2010. 强制拆迁, 不能让子弹飞 [Forced Demolition—Don't Let the Bullet Fly]. http://blog.qq.com/qzone/611994212/1285455587.htm (accessed September 4, 2013).Google Scholar
Liu, Yejin 2010. Compensation Does Not Justify Forced Demolition. http://blog.caijing.com.cn/expert_article‐151380‐6681.shtml (accessed September 4, 2013).Google Scholar
Lubman, Stanley B. 1999. Bird in a Cage. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Ma, Deqing 2010. 向强制拆迁开炮 [A Critique of Forced Demolition]. http://blog.gmw.cn/u/36731/archives/2010/216475.html (accessed September 4, 2013).Google Scholar
Magaloni, Beatriz 2008. Enforcing the Autocratic Political Order and the Role of Courts: The Case of Mexico. In Rule by Law: The Politics of Courts in Authoritarian Regimes, ed. Ginsburg, Tom and Moustafa, Tamir, 180–206. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Marshall, Anna‐Maria. 2006. Social Movement Strategies and the Participatory Potential of Litigation. In Cause Lawyers and Social Movements, ed. Scheingold, Stuart and Sarat, Austin, 164–181. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Matsuda, Mari J. 1988. Law and Culture in the District Court of Honolulu, 1844–1845: A Case Study of the Rise of Legal Consciousness. American Journal of Legal History 32:16–41.Google Scholar
McAdam, Doug 1983. Tactical Innovation and the Pace of Insurgency. American Sociological Review 48:735–754.Google Scholar
McAdam, Doug, Tarrow, Sidney, and Tilly, Charles 2001. Dynamics of Contention. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
McCann, Michael W. 1994. Rights at Work. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
McCann, Michael W. 1998. How Does Law Matter for Social Movements? In How Does Law Matter? ed. Garth, B. and Sarat, A., 76–108. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.Google Scholar
Merry, Sally E. 1994. Courts as Performances: Domestic Violence Hearings in a Hawaii Family Court. In Contested States: Law Hegemony and Resistance, ed. Lazarus‐Black, Mindie and Hirsch, Susan F., 35–59. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Mingpao News. 2013. 軍費增幅降 維穩費更高 [Slowdown in the Increase of the Military Budget, But with a Higher Budget for Maintaining Stability]. http://specials.mingpao.com/cfm/News.cfm?SpecialsID=272&Page=9&News=c993f24a468969ec4d92d2cacc1331e4c81fd5aeca4367e5841a34e85a (accessed March 6, 2013).Google Scholar
Minzner, Carl 2009. Riots and Cover‐Ups: Counterproductive Control of Local Agents in China. University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law 31:53–123.Google Scholar
Mnookin, Robert, and Kornhauser, Lewis 1979. Bargaining in the Shadow of the Law: The Case of Divorce. Yale Law Journal 88:950–997.Google Scholar
Moustafa, Tamir 2008. Law and Resistance in Authoritarian States: The Egyptian Case. In Rule by Law: The Politics of Court in Authoritarian Regimes, ed. Ginsburg, Tom and Moustafa, Tamir, 132–155. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Moustafa, Tamir, and Ginsburg, Tom 2008. Law and Resistance in Authoritarian States: The Judicialization of Politics in Egypt. In Rule by Law: The Politics of Courts in Authoritarian Regimes, ed. Ginsburg, Tom and Moustafa, Tamir, 132–155. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Nantong Intermediate Court. 2008. 司法建议书 [Judicial Suggestions].Google Scholar
Ng, Kwai Hang, and He, Xin Forthcoming. Internal Contradictions in China's Judicial Mediation. Law & Social Inquiry.Google Scholar
O'Brien, Kevin J. (ed.). 2008. Popular Protest in China, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
O'Brien, Kevin J., and Li, Lianjiang 2004. Suing the Local State: Administrative Litigation in Rural China. China Journal 51:75–96.Google Scholar
O'Brien, Kevin J., and Li, Lianjiang 2006. Rightful Resistance in Rural China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Panyu Court. 2004. The Stipulation with regard to Post Responsibility of Panyu District Court, Guangzhou Municipality (Trial). In The Compilation of Regulations and Institutions of P. District Court, Guangzhou Municipality, Volume 1, 181–188, June 2004 (no press or ISBN series number).Google Scholar
Peerenboom, Randall 2009. More Law, Less Courts: Legalized Governance, Judicialization, and Dejudicialization in China. In Administrative Law and Governance in Asia, ed. Ginsburg, Tom and Chen, Albert H. Y., 175–202. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Peerenboom, Randall 2011. Economic and Social Rights: The Role of Courts in China. San Diego International Law Journal 12:303–331.Google Scholar
People's Net. 2011. 沈德咏: 中国绝不能搞“三权分立”式司法独立 [Shen Deyong (the Executive Vice President of the SPC): No Room in China for Judicial Independence of the Western Style]. http://2011lianghui.people.com.cn/GB/214392/14102041.html (accessed May 5, 2013).Google Scholar
Phan, Pamela N. 2005. Enriching the Land or the Political Elite? Lessons from China on Democratization of the Urban Renewal Process. Pacific Rim Law and Policy Journal 14:607–657.Google Scholar
Pils, Eva 2005. Land Disputes, Rights Assertion and Social Unrest: A Case from Sichuan. Columbia Journal of Asian Law 19:365–392.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, Gerald 1991. The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change? Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sapio, Flora 2004. Shuanggui and Extralegal Detention in China. China Information 22 (1): 7–37.Google Scholar
Scheingold, Stuart 1974. The Politics of Rights: Lawyers, Public Policy and Political Change. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Shirk, Susan L. 1993. The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Silverstein, Gordon 2008. Singapore: The Exception that Proves Rules Matter. In Rule by Law, ed. Ginsburg, Tom and Moustafa, Tamir, 73–101. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sina News. 2012. 浙江台州钉子户马路中间断水生活十余年 [The Nail‐Household Sustained for More than 10 Years in the Middle of Highway]. http://slide.news.sina.com.cn/c/slide_1_2841_28147.html (accessed May 26, 2013).Google Scholar
Solomon, Peter H. 2008. Judicial Power in Authoritarian States: The Russian Experience. In Rule by Law, ed. Ginsburg, Tom and Moustafa, Tamir, 261–282. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Southern Weekend. 2003. 拆迁十年悲喜剧 [The Tragedies and Comedies of Housing Demolition Over the Last Decade]. http://www.southcn.com/weekend/commend/200309040001.htm (accessed September 4, 2013).Google Scholar
SPC (Supreme People's Court). 1998. The Several Stipulations on the Adjudicative Proceedings of Civil and Economic Cases. Issued by the SPC, June 19, 1998. Beijing, SPC.Google Scholar
Stern, Rachel E. 2010. On the Frontlines: Making Decisions in Chinese Civil Environmental Lawsuits. Law & Policy 32 (1): 79–103.Google Scholar
Su, Yang, and He, Xin 2010. Street as Courtroom: State Accommodation of Social Conflicts in South China. Law & Society Review 44:157–184.Google Scholar
Sunstein, Cass R. 2000. Deliberative Trouble? Why Groups Go to Extremes. Yale Law Journal 110:71–119.Google Scholar
Thireau, Isabelle, and Hua, Linshan 2003. The Moral Universe of Aggrieved Chinese Workers: Workers' Appeal to Arbitration Committees and Letters and Visits Offices. China Journal 50:83–103.Google Scholar
Thompson, E. P. 1975. Whigs and Hunters: The Origin of the Black Act. New York: Pantheon.Google Scholar
Upham, Frank K. 1987. Law and Social Change in Postwar Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Upham, Frank K. 2011. Reflections on the Rule of Law in China. Taiwan University Law Review 6 (1): 251–267.Google Scholar
Wang, Qinhua, and Yin, Xin (eds.). 2010. 中国基层行政争议解决机制的经验研究 [An Empirical Study of Administrative Dispute Resolution in Grassroots China]. Shanghai: Shanghai Sanlian Press.Google Scholar
Widner, Jennifer 2001. Building the Rule of Law. New York: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
Widner, Jennifer, and Scher, Daniel 2008. Building Independent Courts in Semi‐Democracies, Uganda and Zimbabwe. In Rule by Law, ed. Ginsburg, Tom and Moustafa, Tamir, 235–261. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wines, Michael 2012. Revolt Begins Like Others, But its End is Less Certain. New York Times, December 17, A6.Google Scholar
Xinhua News. 2010. 南通市规定: 被拆迁人未搬出的不得强行拆除 [New Stipulation in Nantong: No Compulsory Demolition Before the Evictees Move Out]. http://xh.xhby.net/newxh/html/2010‐09/08/content_273808.htm (accessed October 10, 2012).Google Scholar
Yingke Lawyer. 2009. 黄淑英案再审听证代理词 [The Hearing Presentation of the Reopened Huang Shuying Case]. http://www.yingkelawyer.com/2009/07/10/1333.html (accessed October 10, 2012).Google Scholar
Yuexi County. 2011. 关于制定菖蒲镇信访维稳工作考核办法的通知 [The Notice on the Measures of Performance on Petitions and Stability Maintenance by Changpu Township Government]. http://cpz.ahyx.gov.cn/gwgk/bmfw/201105/50130.html (accessed May 6, 2013).Google Scholar
Zemans, Frances 1983. Legal Mobilization: The Neglected Role of the Law in the Political System. American Political Science Review 77:690–702.Google Scholar
Regulations for Expropriation and Compensation for Houses on State‐Owned Land Expropriation Regulations, the State Council of China, promulgated on 21 January 2011.Google Scholar
Regulations for Expropriation and Compensation for Houses on State‐Owned Land Expropriation Regulations, the State Council of China, promulgated on 21 January 2011.Google Scholar