Lateral Networks of Homeowner Associations and Civil Society Building in Urban China

Civil society organizations are crucial for the development of civil society, because these organizations teach citizens democratic practices on the one hand, and constrain the power of the state on the other. Recently, lateral networks of homeowner associations are being formed in many Chinese cities. While not being recognized by the authoritarian state or even faced with potential political risks, these networks are playing an ever more important role in facilitating homeowners’ collective actions to defend their private property rights. Existing literature tends to understand homeowners’ collective action as a reactive response to counteract the powerful real estate developers and their management agencies in a yet mature housing market. But based on interviews, participant observations, and online discussions of the lateral networks of homeowner associations in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, this study argues that these networks are proactively adopted as important infrastructures for the development of civil society organizations in urban China. Driven by the ambitions of promoting the development of civic organizations in China, the activists use homeowner associations as the most practical way to make such attempts. They not only deal with immediate material interests concerning housing and neighborhood management, but also strive for the participation of member associations on a regular basis and for the engagement in city decision making processes. This study attempts to explore homeowner activists’ motivations as well as their strategies and tactics to establish and run such lateral networks. It has profound implications for state-society interactions and civil society building in contemporary urban China.