Chinese Journal of Sociology ›› 2012, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (2): 171-198.

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The Construction and Logic of Justice in the Mediation of Rural Disputes

Author 1: Wang Hansheng, Department of Sociology, Peking University； Author 2: Wang Di, School of Journalism and Communication, Peking University.   

  1. Author 1: Wang Hansheng, Department of Sociology, Peking University； Author 2: Wang Di, School of Journalism and Communication, Peking University.
  • Online:2012-03-20 Published:2012-03-20
  • Contact: Wang Hansheng, Department of Sociology, Peking University. E-mail:Wanghs@pku.edu.cn
  • About author:Author 1: Wang Hansheng, Department of Sociology, Peking University；Author 2: Wang Di, School of Journalism and Communication, Peking University.

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Abstract:

 In rural China, mediation plays an essential role in resolving disputes among villagers. Based on the materials from our fieldwork, this paper looks into the practice of mediation in current rural villages, discusses how agreement and justice are realized in different types of disputes and in different situations, and tries to discover the principle of justice underlying these practices. The authors have found that, rural China is a society of acquaintances. In such a society, keeping the continuity of interpersonal relationships to achieve harmony is the legitimate basis for mediation. The mediator’s role status, moral background, and authority are the sources of legality for the mediator, and also serve as the presupposition of justice realization. During the process of mediation, mediators may use various techniques and strategies. An important one is called “Shang Men TiaoJie”(mediation on the spot), which could guarantee a mandatory intervention to a dispute, put the involved parties back into their original social relation, and also, create an informal atmosphere by transforming the situation and reconstructing the relationship, thus achieving a good chance to resolve the dispute. Another important mediation strategy is “Yi ShuoZhi He”( agreement via talking). As for the “talking,” the integration of “emotion, reason and law” is the key and the principle of “Ruan Ying Jian Shi”(both the carrot and the stick) should be employed. In additionto the community common sense and regulations, laws, regulations, and policies are being used more frequently as means to resolve disputes, and under certain circumstances when commonsense reasoning fails, they become the indispensable power of authoritarian control. “QuanHengLiHai”(weighing pros and cons) is a skill of “talking.” By explaining all possible consequences to the persons involved, the mediator may persuade all parties in the dispute to make compromises to reach an agreement. These analyses lead to the conclusion that, in addition to employing various mediating strategies and techniques, mediators must conform to the principle of justice in people’s mind. That is, reaching a mediation agreement is a process of achieving justice, which must be based on two principles: conforming to the “Chinese concept of justice” and conforming to the “conventional procedure accustomed by the Chinese.” In rural China, the concept of justice has the following characteristics: First, compared with the obtainment of individual rights through legal proceedings, maintaining social relationships is a higher order of justice; second, the principle of justice in Chinese rural communities is “situational,”which means that the justice principle and action logic vary according to the hierarchical order of the social statuses as well as the closeremote positions in the social connections; and finally, the Chinese principle of justice is highly integrative, namely, an agreement is often the outcome of coordinating various reasons on diverse dimensions.

Key words: dispute, mediation ,   people’s mediation ,   principle of justice