In today’s increasingly mediated Chinese societies around the world, innovative forms of non-profit organizing have emerged to address pressing social concerns. While state systems and corporations are sometimes portrayed as inefficient in dealing with local and transnational social and environmental problems, the rising power of civil groups in many Chinese societies are increasingly prominent.
Non-government organizations (NGOs) play significant roles in areas such as the building of emerging nations, international civil society and global development, corporate global alliance networks, international relationship and public diplomacy, humanitarian aid, environmental conservation and engaged spirituality. Given the increasing influence of Chinese NGOs in many facets of social, political, and religious life, it is important to examine their mediation, communication networks, and organizational dynamics in their operational and advocacy work.
While a growing corpus of research is being done on Chinese NGOs, we know less about the opportunities and challenges facilitated by Chinese NGOs’ appropriation of various forms of communication, including the use of newer digital media to build their community, social capital and service capacity. NGOs have traditionally faced the challenges of mobilizing their volunteers, translating their abstract principles into embodied interventions, sustaining members’ interest and commitment, and maintaining relationships with resourceful strategic partners. These difficulties are amplified in today’s increasingly media saturated environment where a diversity of ideas, ideologies, information and causes are available, which can serve as competition for Chinese NGOs and may not be compatible with their local and global capacity building. Moreover, although NGOs exist to serve the public good, their work is mired in and may be hindered by local cultural conditions, including value orientations, socio-political governance and regulations, as well as telecommunications infrastructure (or lack thereof) in which they are embedded. Yet, at the same time, Chinese NGOs may creatively adopt and negotiate their media connections and communication networks to (re)build their trust and legitimacy to members, policy makers, potential donors and other civil actors.
Accordingly, this special issue aims to address the theoretical issues underlying the constitution and evolution of Chinese NGOs and to map empirical research on the mediated and communicative mechanisms fueling Chinese NGO growth and collaborations across different institutional actors.
We invite contributions in the following areas:
·Historical perspectives on Chinese non-profit organizing, media use andculture
·Analysis of digital media use and innovation in the constitution of Chinese NGOs
·Examinations of the use of mobile social media by Chinese civil actors in communication and capacity building
·Implications of cultural frameworks on volunteering and nonprofit service
·Potential and limitations of digital advocacy, issue management, and/or fundraising in Chinese societies in Asia and beyond
·Collaboration and/or conflict in multi-actor/cross-sectoral constellations of private, government and Chinese NGO networks
·Assessment of globalization and/or glocalization developments in Chinese NGOs and their relationships with international NGOs and international developments
·Comparative research on non-profit organizing, social value and partnerships
·Short and longer terms implications of Chinese NGOs, civil society and social change
We welcome multidisciplinary scholarly contributions that draw upon, integrate or cross-fertilize literature from varied divisions of communication and media, information sciences, and management. We seek both qualitative and quantitative research, and papers that present critical reflections on methods, detailed discussions of the specific challenges of doing fieldwork in this area and data-mining on Chinese
social media are welcome.
All manuscripts must be submitted byDecember 30, 2015. All accepted manuscript will be published online first and the planned printed publication date is an issue of CJC in 2017.
Submissions should conform to the editorial guidelines of the Chinese Journal of Communication found athttp://www.informaworld.com/cjocunder
“Instructions for Authors”.
Papers for consideration in this special issue should be submitted onlinehttp://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rcjcand should indicate they are intended for inclusion in the special issue.
/Aimei Yang, Ph.D.//
Assistant Professor
Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
University of Southern California/