Reinventing democracy through Confucianism---representation, application and reorientation of Western Transnational Nonprofit Organizations (WTNPOS) in post-Mao China.

摘要

This research focuses on two main processes related to the development of Western Transnational Nonprofit Organizations (WTNPOs) in post-Mao China (1978-present): (1) the transnationalization of Western nonprofit organizations in the Chinese context, a milieu without the domination of Western orientations, for the sake of survival and maximization of impacts; and (2) the democratization of China, a great exploration and experiment departing from the radical Maoism towards various potentials. Different from most conventional researches on transnational NGOs and global civil society which are based on Western philosophical orientations, this research attempts to reevaluate the representation of the WTNPOs (their values, practice, and so on) in post-Mao China from the perspective of comparative studies of East-West philosophies, cultures, and politics. The ongoing theoretical construction of Confucian democracy is identified in this research as a viable alternative path to bring the two processes above into a mutually beneficial co-innovation, other than the conventional unilateral enlightenment movement advocated by the WTNPOs intentionally or unintentionally.;This research reexamines the contributions and dilemmas of the WTNPOs in post-Mao China from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. After substantial comparative studies, this research emphasizes that fundamental obstacles of WTNPOs in post-Mao China do not result from language, legal and operational disparities between Chinese and Western countries, but are rooted in East-West cultural and philosophical conflicts, which could be greatly reduced through integration of Eastern and Western philosophical traditions. This research attempts to deconstruct the domination of Western values and concepts in the field of transnational nonprofit organization discourse and studies through the introduction and adoption of the ongoing conceptualization of "Confucian democracy," which could be traced back to the ideas of New Confucian scholars since the breakout of Opium War in 1840 in China and the dialogues of East-West Philosophers Conference since its inception in 1939 in Hawaii. With the relevant experience of WTNPOs in post-Mao China, this research aims to prove that the conceptualization of culturally and philosophically sensitive approaches for the WTNPOs in Chinese environment complementary to their conventional methods is not only theoretically possible but also empirically viable.