On Thursday, April 10 at 9 PM, Anthony Spires will present, “Global Civil Society and China: Challenges and Prospects.” This talk will explore the unstable relationship between GCS and China and analyze the normative impacts it has had on China in recent decades. Examining the rhetoric and reality of GCS as an emancipatory project, Spires will argue that “universal values” underpinned by principles of human rights and democracy have gained currency in China despite official resistance from the government. The talk will conclude with observations about diasporic activism and the increasing internationalization of Chinese civil society.
Anthony Spires is an Associate Professor at The University of Melbourne’s Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies and serves as Deputy Associate Dean International (China) in the Faculty of Arts. His research on China encompasses political sociology, civil society, globalization, organizational development, and philanthropy. Spires is also the author of Everyday Democracy: Civil Society, Youth, and the Struggle Against Authoritarian Culture in China (Columbia University Press, 2024) and Global Civil Society and China (Cambridge University Press, 2024).