Chinese Journal of Sociology

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Sandwiched between Resources and Institutions： Survival Strategies of Rural Migrant Workers’ Grassroots NGOs 　　　　　　　　　　　　

He Jingwei， Huang Peiru &  Huang Hui   

  • Online:2009-11-20 Published:2009-11-20

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Abstract:

Abstract： Studying the grassroots organizations is indispensible if one wants to investigate the evolvement of China’s folk societies. Over the past two decades， the serious problem with the workers’ labor rights and the absence of intervention by the government or the workers’ union in the Pearl River Delta have brought about a constellation of grassroots NGOs to protect the rural migrant workers’ rights.  However， it has been very difficult for these NGOs to function in this overall unfavorable existential environment for nongovernment organizations in China， where labor rights and human rights are highly sensitive issues.  Facing the dual institutional and resource constraints， these grassroots NGOs have been using a number of survival strategies. Their existential state correlates closely with their political ideology and rightprotective ideas. They have to rely upon the moral legitimacy beyond the institution in order to obtain social support and the silent recognition from the government. They have also set up consulting committees and/or boards of directors to seek endorsement from the intellectual elite. Some even resort to personal relations with government officers. The recent NGOs constructed within the constitution have provided new data for studies on the rural migrant workers’ rightprotecting NGOs in the Pearl River Delta.

Key words: grassroots organization , protecting rights , rural migrant worker , psychological wellbeing , gender imbalance , marriage status ,  , anomia , rural migrant workers, the Pearl River Delta, NGO , strategy