Page 251 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Chapter 8. Conclusion

ciety is because it refers to small civic groups which are mainly formed by specialists in

certain domains, such as the law or academia. They are non-profit or non-governmental
communities which represent some of the public’s views. Their activities are mostly
spontaneous and individual. Large scale western-style civil society has not yet formed.
Under the legal system in authoritarian states, ‘individual’ behaviour is danger-
ous for members of civic groups. These groups usually form on an ad-hoc basis when

a significant incident occurs, and they cannot escape the government’s control; for
example, the temporary civic group of lawyers in the Sun Zhigang case did not grow
into independent organisations working long-term for civil rights. Although advanced

ICT has promoted the establishment of Chinese-style quasi-civil society, its form and
implications are very different from western civil society, and due to the strict internet
censorship in China, the western concept of civil society can hardly be formed in the
real world of China.
The special pattern of ‘civil society’ in modern China differs from the initial lo-

calised forms of ‘civil society’ before the founding of the People’s Republic of China
(details see section 2.2.3). In the ages pre-1949, local elite families and commerce com-
munities were the major force of civil society. They concerned mostly for the long-term

development of local areas and the provision of public services. However, as discussed
in the three case studies, civil society tends to be a ‘disposable’ group, which appears
occasionally when large social events take place. The long-term development of the
whole country or local region is not the priority of their concern. The modern civil
society focuses on helping solve a specific social problem and it usually disperse into

individuals after the event ends. Therefore, civil society in contemporary China tends
to be a one-time phenomenon which is very different from the initial civil society in the
ages pre-1949 or Anglo civil society.

Provided the government’s bottom line is kept, online public sphere is friendly to
talkative and opinionated people when social events break out. However, in accord with
the modern pattern of ‘civil society’, events that are amplified through new media tend
to be ‘one-issue’, as well. It is necessary to point out that not all social events exposed
on the internet can draw long-term attention or gain an acceptable solution.

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