Civil society and the role of the Catholic Church in contemporary China 1

The emergence and development of civil society in mainland China has been an important topic for social researchers over the past 20 years. The questions researchers have raised can be summarized as follows: what is civil society (Kean 1988)? Was there a civil society in Chinese history? ² Which model provides a better explanation for the organizational form of Chinese society, the model of state corporatism or that of civil society (White et al. 1996; Unger 2008)? How should researchers conduct empirical study on Chinese society using the civil society model (Brook and Frolick 1997; Ho 1997; Weller 2005; Deng 2008)? If non-governmental organizations play a key role in building civil society, then what role is played by religious organizations (Ma 2006; Lu 2009; Madsen 2008)?