PhD Title

A call to alms: nascent civil society and the role of faith-based organisations in China.

Supervisors

Dr Heather Xiaoquan Zhang, Dr Alison Hardie (both Leeds) and Dr Marjorie Dryburgh (Sheffield).

Research Study

Internationally, religion and faith have assumed an increasingly significant place in both international development and in policy discourse. However, to date little formal research has been undertaken on the contribution that religiously-inspired organisations are making to Chinese society. In part this is due to the relatively recent (re-)emergence of faith based organisations but arguably it is also a consequence of religious policy in China not least in the sense of a real (or perceived) lack of access to these groups.

In the face of increasing social tensions, Chinese policy makers are now starting to recognize the significance and latent potential of local initiatives in which Chinese faith communities are engaged. The potential synergy between the aims and practices of indigenous faith-based organizations (FBOs) and policy objectives relating to development, social inclusion and the building of a 'harmonious society' are of increasing interest to the state and to other sectors of society, including policy makers, practitioners and academia.

My PhD proposes to make a distinctive contribution in this area through an exploration of the faith based sector in contemporary China, providing information on FBOs specifically, whilst also providing an innovative dimension to the growing body of literature on Chinese civil society. My study seeks to understand how individuals and groups working for FBOs position themselves and their charitable work within the social and political structures in China. In other words, I aim to explore the variety of ways in which FBOs strive to achieve agency, autonomy, voice and legitimacy vis-à-vis the Chinese state and society.

Background

My first visit to China was a year-long visit in 1991-92 to Renmin University of China in Beijing, as part of my undergraduate studies (Modern Chinese and Management Studies at University of Durham). Over the past 16 years, I have worked both with and for a wide range of NGOs, both secular and faith-based. My first experience of working within the faith-based sector in China was a three-year period of employment in the mid-1990s with the Nanjing-based Amity Foundation. Posted to rural Jiangxi province I taught undergraduates as part of a long-term education project. In my spare time I became involved in a variety of voluntary community projects, including work at the local orphanage and an old people's home.  After 4 years working in business in UK, I returned to the charitable sector and from 2001-2008 worked as Director of the China Desk for Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), the national ecumenical council of Britain and Ireland. This role involved extensive strategic and grass-roots links with China and included frequent visits. I have an MPhil from Birmingham University and I began my PhD at University of Leeds in 2008.

Publications

Real change or mere rhetoric? An evaluation of the 2005 Regulations on Religious Affairs a year on, China Study Journal,  Spring/Summer 2007  

The growth of the protestant church in rural China, Concilium, 2008/2

The Growth of Faith-Based Organisations in China, China Review, No 47, Summer 2009

Email: c.fielder@wreac.org