In China, factors such as rural–urban migration, rampant rural poverty, and strict family-planning policies have weakened kinship networks, leading to an increase in child abandonment. However, the national institutional orphanages designed to care for abandoned children are mostly located in urban centres; orphaned and abandoned children in rural areas generally have no access to these institutions. Anna High, in her book, Non-Governmental Orphan Relief in China, advances the understanding of how the “private orphanage” (non-governmental relief services for orphan “Gu’er”) has become a crucial alternative resource, through exploring the unacknowledged orphanage welfare system in modern China, including insights drawn from her own in-depth case-studies. With the state’s policy transition from welfare statism (a monopolistic welfare system) to welfare pluralism (a more transparent and hybrid welfare system), the nonprofit and voluntary sectors thrive on filling the perceived gaps and shortcomings of the state system, constituting an alternative system of care in response to the increased welfare needs of local vulnerable and marginalized populations. Importantly, the development of the “private orphanage” has also relied on local government officials taking a “with one eye closed” oversight approach that tolerates and, in some cases, encourages or informally supports unauthorized welfare providers. High’s work investigates the power dynamics involved in the local process of orphan relief and the impact on relief work in China. Also addressed is a broader issue in modern China—the nuanced and complicated relationships between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the state—as well as the ways in which civic engagements and informal politics impact these relationships. This book provides valuable insight for those interested in the care and relief of orphans and abandoned children, and/or in the interaction of non-governmental sectors and the government in modern China.

High paints a detailed picture of the interface between private-orphanage services and the state’s policies, weaving together ethnographic data with material gathered through qualitative in-depth interviews. Each chapter not only provides an analysis of the broad political and cultural structure of contemporary China, but also illustrates micro-level difficulties in the private-orphanage services. Chapter 2 discusses two relinquishment risk factors for child abandonment—the sex of the child and disability—which are a major result of restrictive birth-control policies, inadequate systems of eldercare and disability welfare, and the traditional narrative of the “unwanted child.” Also included is an overview of the state’s new projects on institutionalized orphanage care and their limitations (i.e. weakening orphans’ kinship and the frequency shift of caregivers) and of the emerging trend of family foster care. Chapter 3 analyzes challenges faced by private orphanages under the state’s welfare statism, referencing High’s two in-depth Catholic case-studies in the Guanghui Children’s Home. Her studies revealed that private orphanages had difficulty in registering and receiving authorization as official orphan caregivers due to the lack of governmental sponsors, financial hardships, and the state’s restrictive policies on religion. The non-legal status of the private orphanages led to the orphans’ lack of Hukou (registered residency), which further prohibited their access to education and welfare entitlements, resulting in a lack of financial support, care standards, and transparency. During welfare pluralism, the “one eye open” oversight approach adopted by many local officials can serve as a discretionary and informal politics in support of the private orphanages. Nevertheless, the lack of support and oversight by the state can still be seen as a general problem for private orphanages. Chapter 4 introduces a new model of private orphan relief, involving international NGOs and foreign interventions in the deinstitutionalization of orphan and foster homes that adopt orphans without any interaction with state authorities, while being limited by the state’s formative policies and benefited by informal oversight. Chapter 5 reviews the private orphanage both before and after the Lankao fire, referencing in-depth interview data on foreign orphan caregivers in Guanghui. In this chapter, High uncovers the upheaval and uncertainty within cross-country foster care and the impact of new foreign NGO rules on the foreign-run and foreign-funded orphan-relief organizations.

High’s description of her fieldwork demonstrates her self-reflectivity and careful consideration when conducting qualitative research. There are 20 formal, documented interviews with NGO staff who work with children, and with Chinese and Western volunteers. The in-depth interviews are interpreted in an exemplary way. Considering linguistic nuance and emphasis, High freely translated the Chinese interviews into English, rather than translating them word for word. She prepared herself well with fundamental knowledge of modern China by studying news reports related to the welfare of children, national documents, legislative instruments, and laws and practices related to NGOs. High reports that she had to rely heavily on mutual trust based on social networks (Guanxi) and relationships, as other researchers doing fieldwork in China have done. She notes the barriers encountered because of her status as a foreigner, such as the difficulty in getting access to government representatives, leading to certain limitations in that most of her data come from a civic, rather than a national or governmental, perspective. Her thoughtful reflections on methodology are beneficial for readers, who can then better understand any potential limitations or biases of the research.

Further research is needed on the government’s institutional care in order to provide supplemental knowledge on the private-orphanage issue in China, as well as to include a wider array of individuals related to private-orphanage issues (such as government officials and regular citizens). More diverse methods can be usefully employed to advance such research. Even so, this book has succeeded in bringing much-needed academic attention to the subject of private-orphanage welfare in modern China. Its strength lies in the exceptionally detailed depictions of interactional politics, as seen in the multidimensional nature of the interactions between the government and NGOs. The example of “non-legal” private orphanages illustrates the convergence of informal rules and procedures that exists in sectors outside the scope of formal laws and regulations. Another major contribution of this work is the notion that the growth in the services provided by private orphanages, however cautious and gradual, is an evident and important prerequisite for the future growth of advocacy and reform campaigns. Scholars of contemporary Chinese politics, orphanage welfare, and NGOs in China are sure to find the book quite beneficial.