ABSTRACT
This introduction provides an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book exposes theoretical and logical problems with the set of common claims used in China studies. In China studies, interest in civil society was aroused by macro level assumptions of what civil society should do, but research remains mostly focused on micro level issues, such as organizational characteristics of some associations. The book intends to save the concept of civil society in China studies and do the groundwork for translating it into a useful idea that can inspire future research in innovative and empirically sound ways. It demonstrates that civil society theory can be used to link civil society development with general development in Chinese society. In the Republic of China, social pluralization and the rise of contentious civil society seemed to have preceded democratization in the way transitology predicts.
