{"id":20634,"date":"2026-04-25T10:42:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T07:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idis.gr\/neither-withdrawal-nor-resistance-adapting-to-increased-repression-in-china-lecture-by-professor-kevin-obrien\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T11:17:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T08:17:50","slug":"neither-withdrawal-nor-resistance-adapting-to-increased-repression-in-china-lecture-by-professor-kevin-obrien","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idis.gr\/en\/neither-withdrawal-nor-resistance-adapting-to-increased-repression-in-china-lecture-by-professor-kevin-obrien\/","title":{"rendered":"Neither Withdrawal Nor Resistance: Adapting to Increased Repression in China \u2013 Lecture by Professor Kevin O\u2019Brien"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\nADD to calendar<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u0399DIS China Program is pleased to invite you to a lecture titled: Neither Withdrawal Nor Resistance: Adapting to Increased Repression in China, by Kevin O\u2019Brien<\/strong>, Jack M. Forcey Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the lecture:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As repression grows in China, some pastors, lawyers and NGOs are neither resisting it nor withdrawing from the public sphere, but instead are finding ways to adapt. Coping strategies include: being transparent about their activities and maintaining close communication with the authorities; cultivating allies in the government and giving credit to officials for their achievements; keeping the size of their organizations non-threatening and consenting to a heightened Party presence; staying a safe distance from red lines and focusing on less controversial issues; encouraging their members to accept compromises and government priorities; distancing themselves from activists who speak out against restrictions; shedding connections with foreign countries; and arguing that loyalty and moderation are the best way to make progress. The hope is that cooperation and exhibiting an understanding view of the Party\u2019s motives will preserve space to operate and suggest a path toward long-term co-existence. Accommodating pastors, lawyers and NGOs take the regime as a given and work with the state rather than against it. In doing so, they retain some agency, even as deepening authoritarianism blurs the line between accommodation and cooptation. Potentially restive professionals are directed away from activities and ways of thinking that the authorities do not like, and toward organizing themselves and operating in a manner that is deemed acceptable. They learn to avoid confrontation and are steered to a safe place and rewarded (or at least tolerated) if they stay there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the speaker:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kevin O\u2019Brien is the Jack M. Forcey Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on contemporary Chinese politics, especially at the grassroots. Among his publications are Reform Without Liberalization: China\u2019s National People\u2019s Congress and the Politics of Institutional Change, Rightful Resistance in Rural China, Engaging the Law in China: State, Society and Possibilities for Justice, Grassroots Elections in China, Rural Politics in China and Popular Protest in China, His main interest for many years has been the disaffected in society and the strategies they use to improve their situation, as well as the front-line cadres and others who make political control real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/span>Participants by physical attendance are entitled to a Certificate.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ADD to calendar \u0399DIS China Program is pleased to invite you to a lecture titled: Neither Withdrawal Nor Resistance: Adapting to Increased Repression in China, by Kevin O\u2019Brien, Jack M. Forcey Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. About the lecture: As repression grows in China, some pastors, lawyers and NGOs are neither … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[106,102],"tags":[],"event-year":[151],"class_list":["post-20634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-future-events","category-events","event-year-151"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20634"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/idis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20639,"href":"https:\/\/idis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20634\/revisions\/20639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20634"},{"taxonomy":"event-year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event-year?post=20634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}