ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Chinese middle-class participation in neighborhood governance regarding community affairs. The low participation in the activities of the Community Committee’s “self-administration” indicates a rising autonomy of the private sphere of gated-community residents. The residents largely ignore the state’s governance in their residential areas and refuse to actively participate in the administration process within the gated communities. The Community Committee’s situation in gated communities illustrates how the state has gradually lost ground in the private realm of privileged-status groups, where the latter had gained more autonomy in their everyday life due to their higher socioeconomic status. However, for Chinese urban elites, success in the workplace can be counter-productive when applied indiscriminately to deliberative participation regarding community affairs. Homeowner activism among Chinese middle-class residents requires more sufficient understanding of democratic values and practices to regard and respond to others’ opinions as equals, especially when others have opposing or alternative opinions.
