Distant Suffering and Solidarity among Strangers: Politics of Moral Sentiments after the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake in China

遥远的苦难与陌生人的团结：道德情操的政治与2008年四川地震

Dissertation Summary

Bin Xu

My dissertation examines the rise and fall of unprecedented solidarity in the wake of the Sichuan earthquake and how it intertwined with the state-society relationship in China. By studying this particular case, I address a broader theoretical topic: What kinds of social-political conditions enable and/or constrain our moral sentiments and our feelings of being united with those we have never met? An outpouring of “solidarity among strangers,” a feeling of being united with others in an imagined community, would seem to be a natural response to massive disasters. But “distant suffering” (Boltanski 1999) does not always lead to solidarity among strangers, nor does the solidarity always lead to expected institutional improvements. While the dominant approach to solidarity stresses values and semiotic codes, I focus on moral sentiments, which are shaped by the state-society interactions in situations of collective stress. I argue that solidarity among strangers is an outcome of citizens’ participation in a large-scale common activity, which in turn is enabled and constrained by the state-society relationship. This theoretical argument is built on social theories about morality and suffering (Boltanski 1999; Smith [1759] 2009), an interaction-based Durkheimian theory (Collins 2004; Durkheim 1995), and recent theoretical development that connects solidarity to civil society (Alexander 2006). The study not only addresses a core theoretical issue in sociology but also speaks to politics of disasters and humanitarianism, a topic that has become increasingly important in recent decades.

I develop this argument on the basis of a multi-method study of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the deadliest disaster in China in three decades, which killed about 86,000 people. Unprecedented nationwide solidarity occurred in the wake of the earthquake, represented in both public discourses and personal narratives. I explore why unprecedented solidarity emerged, how it reached its peak in an unusual national mourning, and why, after the effervescence, it did not lead to the institutional changes that observers and social theorists expected. In other words, the three questions are about the formation, solidification, and institutionalization of solidarity among strangers. Three empirical chapters explore each of the questions, respectively.

 To explain how solidarity forms, I examine the situation of collective stress, proliferation of interactions, and emotional dynamics in a context with intense interactions between the state and the society in the wake of the earthquake. I argue that neither moral codes nor the Chinese state’s manipulation, but rather Chinese citizens’ discursive and interactional participation led to unprecedented solidarity in the wake of the earthquake. The Chinese state opened the public sphere and allowed information about the devastation and tragedies to flow from the disaster zone to the public, where distant spectators’ emotions were heightened and dramatized. Ordinary citizens were motivated by these emotions and took part in rescue and relief efforts in Sichuan and other places. Their interactions with affected people and with each other produced feelings of solidarity, which were transmitted back to the public sphere through communicative and action networks. Local collective effervescence finally converged into a current of solidarity.

 This wave of solidarity converged and reached its peak in a state-mandated national mourning, which for the first time in Chinese history commemorated and honored ordinary victims. The decision to hold the mourning can be explained by the Chinese state’s increasing reliance on moral legitimacy and challenges from both domestic civil society and international publics. The mourning was unusual in that the state “downplayed” itself in both symbolic representations and ritual conduct. This downplaying was a successful moral performance—performing by not performing—and, thus, effectively enhanced the state’s legitimacy at least for the time being. More importantly, it also enhanced and consolidated solidarity, because it encouraged citizens to participate in symbolic practices on an unprecedented scale. Ordinary citizens and the media were able to create their own symbols in a relatively free public sphere. The state also opened up the physical/institutional boundary so that citizens could hold self-organized/spontaneous commemorative gatherings in central squares of major cities. Their participation in the nationwide three-minute silent observance also helped expand the scale of solidarity. In sum, it was citizens’ participation that made the state ritual effective in enhancing and solidifying solidarity.

Yet, after the collective effervescence, the intense and impressive solidarity did not lead to an institutional establishment of sufferers’ rights and citizenship. It also failed to lead to the institutional changes that theorists of civil society and observers expected, such as an open public sphere and better interactions between the state and society. Although solidarity still existed in small grassroots groups and activism and sustained their long-term participation, the state and the market used solidarity for propaganda and economic purposes. I examine the fate of solidarity in different sectors of society that participated in recovery efforts: the state, the market, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), grassroots groups, and protesters and dissidents. I argue that the failure can be explained by restricted civic participation in substantial political and social issues. Without a well-established political society, Chinese civil society can hardly check the power of the state and the market. 

Reuters

 The analysis is based on data collected from 2008 to 2010 through a multi-method study that included ethnography, qualitative interviews, textual analysis, visual analysis, and a survey. During and after my ethnographic study conducted from March to August 2009, I conducted 69 recorded qualitative interviews (including three focus-group interviews) and numerous informal interviews with a wide variety of people who participated in the earthquake responses, including volunteers, intellectuals, affected people, officials, NGO staff, and ordinary residents. I also conducted participant observations of volunteer-group activities and other events. In addition, I collected extensive press reports, as well as videos, pictures, and other texts available online and provided by my informants. In 2010, around the second anniversary of the earthquake, I conducted a small online/phone survey with earthquake volunteers and non-volunteers (N = 317).

            I expect that the dissertation will eventually lead to a book published by an academic press. Two of the substantive chapters, one on formation and another on commemoration, have been framed as stand-alone articles and submitted to American Sociological Review and American Journal of Sociology. A synopsis of some arguments in the dissertation has been published in Social Psychology Quarterly (“Durkheim in Sichuan: The Earthquake, National Solidarity, and the Politics of Small Things,” 72(1), 2009). I expect to defend the dissertation in the winter quarter of 2011.

REFERENCES

Alexander, Jeffrey C. 2006. The Civil Sphere. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.

Boltanski, Luc. 1999. Distant Suffering: Morality, Media, and Politics. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press.

Collins, Randall. 2004. Interaction Ritual Chains. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Durkheim, Emile. 1995. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Translated by K. E. Fields. New York: Free Press.

Smith, Adam. [1759] 2009. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. New York: Penguin Books.