The Stability Imperative
Human Rights and Law in China
Published on 15. January 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
332 pages
978-0-7748-2881-9 (ISBN)
Description
"Stability preservation" (weiwen) has long been an imperative of China's one-party state. At the same time, China has recently embedded a commitment to the protection of human rights in its constitution. This book examines the multiple and shifting ways in which weiwen impinges on the implementation of human rights. Using case studies, Sarah Biddulph methodically examines the state's response to labour unrest, medical disputes, and forced housing evictions. As she demonstrates, the state's reaction can vary from taking steps to ameliorate the underlying causes of the citizens' grievances to the repression of rights-related protests and the punishment of protestors. The Stability Imperative: Human Rights and Law in China reveals how the systematic failure of the legal system to protect rights coupled with an overemphasis on coercive forms of stability preservation is undermining the authority of law in China and could, ultimately, damage the Communist Party's leadership.
Reviews / Votes
Biddulph has written an outstanding contribution to the field of human rights and law as well as to the field of governance and social stability/protests. The uniqueness and strength of the book lie in the author's ability to bridge and unite insights from different research areas and in her rich empirical material. [Biddulph] shows how issues of human rights and governance are intertwined and shape the life of individual citizens as well as the work of different state and non-state actors and institutions.- Marina Svensson, Lund University (Pacific Historical Review)
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Vancouver
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
500 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7748-2881-9 (9780774828819)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Sarah Biddulph is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow (2014-18) and professor of law at the University of Melbourne Law School. She specializes in the research and teaching of Chinese law. Her research focuses on the Chinese legal system with a particular emphasis on legal policy, law making, and enforcement as they affect the administration of justice in China. Her particular areas of research are contemporary Chinese administrative law, criminal procedure, labour, comparative law, and the law regulating social and economic rights. Her recent publications include: Legal Reform and Administrative Detention Powers in China (2007) and Law and Fair Work in China: Making and Enforcing Labour Standards in the PRC (2013), co-authored with Sean Cooney and Ying Zhu.
Content
1 Rights in a Time of Anxiety about Stability
2 Labour Rights and Stability
3 Housing Expropriation, Demolition, and Relocation
4 The Right to Medical Care and Causing Havoc in Hospitals (Yinao)
5 Punishing Protest
6 Abolishing Re-Education through Labour
7 Governance for Rights and Stability?
Appendix: Legislation, Administrative Regulations and Rules, Normative Documents, and Party Documents
Notes; References; Index
2 Labour Rights and Stability
3 Housing Expropriation, Demolition, and Relocation
4 The Right to Medical Care and Causing Havoc in Hospitals (Yinao)
5 Punishing Protest
6 Abolishing Re-Education through Labour
7 Governance for Rights and Stability?
Appendix: Legislation, Administrative Regulations and Rules, Normative Documents, and Party Documents
Notes; References; Index