Religion and the Problem of ‘Civil Society’ in China

Abstract

In this lecture, I propose to explore the tensions between traditional religion and modern norms of civil solidarity in China, based on the theory of the 'civil sphere' of the American sociologist Jeffrey Alexander ( The Civil Sphere , 2006). Religious communities are defined by Alexander as falling into the category of 'non-civil' spheres that can contribute to civicism or to the civil sphere, without being part of it. Here, we will examine the structural and dynamic position of religion in the emergence of “civil spheres” in China. To begin with, I will sketch a model of three “axes of solidarity” in Qing China, which were all organized around a cult, and which continue to structure many popular networks ( minjian) in contemporary China. Then, I will address the tension between these traditional axes of solidarity and the modern standards of the civil sphere, as well as the role of the State, as well in the imposition as in the restriction of these standards. To conclude, instead of a dichotomy between the 'non-civil' and particularistic nature of the minjian and religious networks on the one hand, and the ideals and norms of equality, democracy and universal solidarity that underlie the forms of engagement in the “civil” sphere, we can imagine that they can overlap and play complementary roles. If the long Chinese 20th century was marked by a gap between universalist citizenship and traditional axes of solidarity, will the 21st century see the emergence of new forms of articulation between them?