NGOs and Accountability in China

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Jude Howell, Xiaoyuan Shang, Karen R. Fisher

   Pages 1-31

3. Setting the Theoretical Scene

   • Jude Howell, Xiaoyuan Shang, Karen R. Fisher

   Pages 33-67

4. Welfare Reforms, Child Welfare NGOs, and Accountability

   • Jude Howell, Xiaoyuan Shang, Karen R. Fisher

   Pages 69-94

5. Making Accountability—Liming Family

   • Jude Howell, Xiaoyuan Shang, Karen R. Fisher

   Pages 95-120

6. Accountability and User Participation—The Case of Angel House

   • Jude Howell, Xiaoyuan Shang, Karen R. Fisher

   Pages 121-140

7. Changing Accountabilities—Children’s Hope Foundation

   • Jude Howell, Xiaoyuan Shang, Karen R. Fisher

   Pages 141-162

8. Accountability of a Mixed Child Welfare Organisation

   • Jude Howell, Xiaoyuan Shang, Karen R. Fisher

   Pages 163-185

9. Conclusion

   • Jude Howell, Xiaoyuan Shang, Karen R. Fisher

   Pages 187-211

10. Erratum to: Welfare Reforms, Child Welfare NGOs, and Accountability

    • Jude Howell, Xiaoyuan Shang, Karen R. Fisher

    Pages E1-E1

11. Back Matter

    Pages 213-227

    PDF

This book investigates how NGOs in authoritarian states, such as China, craft accountability and legitimacy to ensure their survival. It explores this through the lens of child welfare organisations from 2007 to 2017. The authors provide a fresh approach to accountability that is more attuned to the particular conditions of authoritarianism. The project explores the effects of power relations in shaping the hierarchies of accountability and participation that emerge and the attention given to different voices such as those of donor, government, and users. Essential reading for researchers and policy makers interested in development, NGO, social policy, political science, and child welfare studies.

• Child Welfare
• Child Welfare in China
• NGO Accountability
• Authoritarian Regimes and Children
• Authoritarian Regimes and NGOs
• Hu-Wen

“The book is theoretically sophisticated and empirically well researched. The authors show how NGOs accumulate “accountability capital” to gain legitimacy. This is an important book that will interest not only those interested in child welfare and the co-production of services but also those working on institutional adaptation in authoritarian regimes.” (Anthony Saich, Professor, Harvard University, USA)

“A unique exploration of the daring, complex and difficult politics of non- state institutions which are developing for the welfare of disadvantaged children in China. All under the watchful gaze of the Chinese state and its Communist Party. Gordon White would have been proud of his legacy!” (Barbara Harriss-White, FAcSS, Emeritus Professor of Development Studies, Oxford University, and Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, UK)

“This book is a refreshing and excellent re-examination of accountability for NGOs, which has long been poorly understood and theorised. The case-studies of child welfare NGOs give an important insight into NGO life in China and resonate with the experiences of NGOs under increasing attack in the West and elsewhere. This book is a must read for political scientists, researchers of NGOs and accountability, and development studies.” (Patrick Kilby, Senior Lecturer, Australia National University, Australia)

“Xiaoyuan Shang and Karen Fisher are international leaders in the field of China’s child welfare systems.  Their work has shone a light on issues relating to orphaned and disabled children as well as children who have experienced abuse and disadvantage. This book with Jude Howell, a leading expert on civil society, continues their important research, informing those in policy, academia and readers interested in this vital, and under-discussed part of Chinese society.” (Jane Hutcheon, author, China Baby Love)

“This book provides an excellent theoretical analysis of NGOs’ accountability and legitimacy in China, building upon extensive field work with child welfare organizations in China. It will be very helpful for readers outside China in understanding the contextual dynamics of NGO development in China, and for Chinese readers in introducing them to different theoretical perspectives on the issues of NGO development, child welfare and social policy in China.” (Xinping Guan, Professor, Nankai University, China)

• Department of International Development, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom

  Jude Howell

• Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

  Xiaoyuan Shang, Karen R. Fisher

Jude Howell is Professor in the Department of International Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom.

Xiaoyuan Shang is Professor at Beijing Normal University, China and Associate Professor at University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia.

Karen R Fisher is Professor in the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia.

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