Chinese Journal of Sociology

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The Action Logic of ValueOriented Collective Action: A Case Analysis of the SS Incident

Zhang Jinghong,Department of Sociology,Peking University;School of Philosophy,Zhongnan University of Economics and Law   

  1. Zhang Jinghong,Department of Sociology,Peking University;School of Philosophy,Zhongnan University of Economics and Law
  • Online:2011-03-21 Published:2011-03-21
  • Contact: Zhang Jinghong,Department of Sociology,Peking University;School of Philosophy,Zhongnan University of Economics and Law E-mail:zhangjinghong.good@gmail.com
  • About author:Zhang Jinghong,Department of Sociology,Peking University;School of Philosophy,Zhongnan University of Economics and Law
  • Supported by:

    Project supported by Humanities and Social Sciences Fund of Ministry of Education: Research of the ValueOrientation Collective Action in China [10YJC810057].

Abstract:

Based on the field work of the SS Incident, this paper examines at the micro level the behavioral interaction among the participants and the progression of the action logic; analyzes the alternating effects of the interest/valuerelated factors; and explains when, why, and how the bystanders stepped in and out of the collective action – in response to the observations of the scholars at home and abroad. The conclusions reported in the paper are: The transition of the stakeholders’ action goal from selfinterest seeking to moral value endorsement opened up an opportunity for the bystanders to participate; it was the values that served as the essential drive for summoning the bystanders into the collective action; consideration of selfinterest played a significant role in the decision making by the losers when facing the dilemma between taking direct losses to themselves or endorsing social values, at which point the bystanders would soon choose to quit and the collective action was to end; currently, the “valueinterest regressive effect” is an important suppressive mechanism in the valueoriented collective action triggered by an accidental event; and the valueoriented collective action in a transitive China does not fit the collective action theory in the Western world. 

Key words: action logic  ,   collective action  ,   group event  ,  valueinterest regressive effect