Community Volunteers' Associations in Contemporary Tianjin: multipurpose partners of the party–state
The Community Volunteers' Associations (CVAs) are among the oldest grassroots organizations in contemporary China and as such provide a valuable case for a study of China's fast-growing non-profit sector. The author defines CVAs as multipurpose partners of the party–state in its pursuit of social stability and maintenance of legitimacy. In this role, the CVAs have served three major tasks. They have provided social services, acted as a link between the party–state and urban residents, and served as a medium for shaping values. The article explores the definition and redefinition of these tasks as well as the actual operations of the associations since the late 1980s.
Chinese youth and alternative narratives of volunteering
Over the past 20 years, volunteering has developed as a new field for governmental control and regulation of an emergent civil society. This article draws on interviews with 60 young volunteers in southern China, mostly university students and recent graduates. I contrast their experiences in off-campus, youth-led voluntary associations with the officially approved student organizations of normal university life. I argue that the instrumental organization of volunteers characterizes the party-state’s efforts to funnel youthful enthusiasm and compassion into particular political projects and officially prescribed goals. Unhappy with the ‘formalistic’ nature of these activities, youth engaging in bottom–up volunteer initiatives articulate other priorities, including a strong desire for meaningful, personal engagement that state-led programmes and university student organizations are typically unable to provide.
Same Same But Different - also in Europe! A New Methodological Approach in Cross-Country Analysis of Communication Structuresapplied to five EU member states
The EU still lacks a truly European public sphere. On this level, there is still a clear lack of integration between individual member states. This means that national public spheres and cultures are still of great importance for European communication and media professionals. Comparative research into the similarities and differences between different nations is therefore valuable for cross-border PR communication activities. This paper lays out the methodological foundation for such research, discussing possible approaches and difficulties associated with comparative research. The author then introduces a potential heuristic framework for comparative analysis: the International Corporate Communication Compass. This framework is applied to five case-study EU countries (Denmark, Germany, France, Poland and the UK), showing the differences and similarities in a range of different contexts that affect public communication in all its forms. The conclusion examines how the results of such studies could be used in order to compare communication identities of different countries. This can potentially help in the development of a European public identity on the long run and in a first step can led towards a better, more adapted communication structure about European citizenship. Ultimately, communication structures within the EU might become more Europeanized than they