In Everyday Democracy, Spires challenges the assumption that “Chinese culture” is incompatible with democracy by showing how bottom-up voluntary associations in southern China can develop and nurture democratic values despite the overarching authoritarian context. Combining insights from Alexis de Tocqueville’s observations of associational life in Democracy in America (1838) with Antonio Gramsci’s idea of cultural hegemony in The Prison Notebooks (1927–1935), Spires shows how Chinese youth-led voluntary associations can develop democratic culture as a counterhegemony to China’s top-down hegemonic authoritarian culture.
The book is structured into four parts. Part one establishes the theoretical background and context for the book, including a review of the scholarly debate about the possibility of democracy in China (chapter one). In part two, Spires then establishes the “authoritarian status quo,” explaining how top-down authoritarian practices pervade the system and structure state–society relations, even in other types of civil society organizations like GONGOs and professionalized NGOs (chapter two). Here, Spires draws on Tocqueville’s ideas about democratic culture emerging from grassroots voluntary associations, as well as Gramsci’s ideas about hegemony and cultural hegemony, to develop a sociological definition of “hegemonic authoritarianism.” Importantly, Spires’s use of the term “hegemonic authoritarianism” differs from that of political scientists who use the term to describe dominance by a single party or leader in an electoral authoritarian regime. Instead, drawing on Gramsci, the term here describes how top-down authoritarian culture in China pervades the system, and how democratic values at the grassroots level run counter to that hegemony. In chapter three, the author illustrates the tension between status-quo hegemonic authoritarian culture and nascent democratic counterhegemony through three qualitative case studies.
Part three represents the core of the book, providing evidence for how two youth-led voluntary associations in southern China, Bridges and Together, have built democratic organizational cultures despite the top-down authoritarian context in which they are embedded. Chapters four through nine examine how these groups develop alternative values, resolve conflicts, generate practical and democratic skills, and select new leaders and members to maintain their organizational culture. These chapters provide support for Spires’s main argument that these groups can develop democratic values, such as equality, mutual respect and dignity, as alternatives to the authoritarian norms that penetrate other parts of Chinese society. In part four, Spires concludes the book with a reflection on the future of these associations, the implications of grassroots democratic culture for China, as well as broader implications for the study of civil society and democratic development worldwide.
Throughout the book, Spires draws on more than 13 years of fieldwork in China conducted from 2005 to 2017 with civil society organizations, from professionalized NGOs to the youth-led voluntary associations that feature prominently as the primary case studies. In addition to ample qualitative evidence from in-person interview material, the book is also exemplary in how it employs data from participant observation as evidence, particularly in chapter three. This chapter, in particular, would be a good model for graduate students pursuing similar qualitative research projects. The appendix reflecting on the ethical and practical challenges of the project’s methodology would also be of interest in a field research methods course.
Overall, Everyday Democracy shows how grassroots groups build democratic values and culture in a consolidated authoritarian regime, contributing to our understanding not only of China, but also the relationships between civil society and democracy more broadly. In an era of increasing global authoritarianism, Spires reminds us to revisit Tocqueville and his observations about voluntary associations, and to look there for the building blocks of democratic culture, rather than in formalized, professionalized NGOs. For China specifically, the book provides evidence of building democratic culture at the grassroots level, despite the authoritarian context, refuting arguments that Chinese culture is somehow at odds with democracy.
Although Spires convincingly argues that these grassroots youth-led voluntary associations can develop (and protect) their democratic values, questions remain about how to situate these particular organizations within the broader context of China or other countries. While Spires recognizes that not all voluntary associations in China necessarily produce these outcomes, the book could have engaged more in comparing these groups to other youth-led organizations elsewhere that have led to different outcomes. How do these groups compare to similar groups operating in other parts of China, or even in other democratic contexts? Why do some produce democratic culture, while others do not? With the world becoming increasingly authoritarian – and studies documenting the increasing appeal of authoritarianism among youth – one wonders how and when to expect democratic culture from youth-led voluntary associations versus other more authoritarian outcomes. This also dovetails with established critiques of Tocquevillian studies of the links between civil society and democracy (such as Sheri Berman’s study of Weimar Germany) that caution against assuming that associational life necessarily contributes to democratic outcomes. How and when do these groups contribute to democratic versus authoritarian culture? Future scholarship should consider these important questions.
Furthermore, Spires’s book also raises additional questions for China studies. Spires notes that these two examples of youth-led voluntary associations are located in southern China, and that their particular history and proximity to Hong Kong could explain their openness to innovation at the grassroots. This leaves open the question of whether these dynamics are likely elsewhere in China. Can grassroots organizations in other Chinese regions generate similar democratic values? Future scholarship could consider whether there is regional variation in the ability of voluntary associations to produce these outcomes.
In summary, Spires’s book is a groundbreaking study of how voluntary associations in China produce democratic culture on authoritarian soil, and it is well supported by qualitative evidence from years of fieldwork in China. The book will be of interest to scholars of Chinese society and authoritarian politics, as well as sociologists and political scientists more generally. It would also be suitable for undergraduate and graduate courses in China studies, authoritarianism, civil society and field research methods.
