Social Network and Legal Mobilization in China: A Case Study of The Network of Homeowners in City C

Abstract

Legal mobilization in China is a crucial issue for the study of civil society under authoritarian regimes. Scholars have argued that formal institutions like the state’s promoting law projects, media and NGOs contribute to mobilizing Chinese citizens to use the law. Based on ethnographic work in China, I provide a new piece of evidence to the argument that social networks as an informal institution prompt legal mobilization by diffusing information and providing support to citizens. The research also challenges the dichotomy of urban/weak ties and rural/strong ties, suggesting that two groups coalesce in the case of homeowners’ networks. Legal consciousness rises and citizens’ understanding of the relations between the state and individuals change positively through the process of learning and using the law. But the experience of using the law does not improve citizens’ evaluation of the legal system as the system is manipulated by the state.