Social Movements

Social Movements

Social Movements refers to collective groups that pursue legitimate goals. They direct their anger towards political institutions that fail to deliver to the people. Most social movements mobilize supporters for protests and other short term activities. Social movements respond to the failures of mainstream civic organizations to integrate the grievances of some constituencies into the mainstream of government. In most cases, they are temporal and transitional phenomena that fade after the establishment of credible institutions. Today, social movements advance issues that governments are reluctant to pursue, such as climate change, gay and lesbian rights, and feminism, among many others.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalist Party (GMD) competed for the control of China for the first half of the 20th century culminating in the 1945-1949 Civil War. The Chinese Communist Party benefited a lot from the activities of the student movements and others towards achieving victory. The gains for the communist party were losses to the Nationalist Party. The CPP was aware of the social and economic grievances that the people had in the countryside and exploited them to their advantage (Westad, 2000, P. 107). It used their problems into a military zeal to fight the GMD. As a result, the CCP won the Civil War because of the mistakes made by the GMD.

The GMD did not succeed in getting the support of citizens for several reasons. The main reason was its failure to reform the Chinese traditional feudal social structure. Although the Nationalists had superior weapons, it was ineffective because it was corrupt (Van de Ven 2012, P.3). Secondly, the CCP was a cohesive force that could protect peasants in neglected regions. Thirdly, the pubic morale was low dues to the high cost of living caused by high inflation. The government had financed the war by printing paper money, thus destroying the value of its currency, the yuan. The actions wiped out the savings of most citizens, reducing them to paupers within a short period. Such individuals did not have reasons to support the Nationalist Party. As a result, the people had to protest to continually. Student demonstrations, worker’s protests, black market trade became rampant. The government’s tried to control the situation through rigid price and wage control and harsh penalties for economic offenses. The use of these authoritarian tactics hurt the citizens who were quick to render their support to the Communist Party, which was promising to change the trend.

Social Movements were part of the Civil War up to its end in 1949. For example, the student and workers’ movements were regular features in the struggle to modernize China. When the living conditions and inflation went up, students and workers demonstrated to oppose the policies of the Nationalist Party. The Communist Party also used conflicts over land to entrench itself in the management of the rural economy (Westad, 2000, P.128). The land was a symbol of traditional and cultural power in the villages. Interfering with this structure by giving the peasants more control, provided the CCP an edge over the CMD, which as accused of misrule.

In some regions, the peasant movement rose to assist the CCP in gaining power. For example, in the northern Henan area, peasant taught over salt production with the permission of the CCP. The peasants were glad that the communist party allowed them to mine, distribute, and sell the product. These peasants helped the CCP to ensure that GMD did not return to their regions because they feared the brutality of the “salt police” (Westad, 2000, 135). Thus, the communist party used the dissatisfaction of the people to develop a working relationship with them to fight the GMD, enabling it to win the war in 1949 (Van de Ven, 2003, p.283).

There were peasant movements in the country in the 1920s, especially in Hubei and Hunan provinces. In most cases, these movements were spontaneous and quick to suppress by the government (Myers, 2000, p.70). The communist party used the plight of the rural poor to gain the support of the masses. Most peasant farmers were angry with the government in power because of its extortion and brutality of the tax collectors. They also despised the use of force to recruit youths into the army among other ills of the Nationalist Party. As a result, the CCP used the chance to recruit peasant farmers into their ranks. Youth social movements were active in the Civil War, supporting the CCP. The youths of the 1940s Chinese students were concerned with the programs of the Nationalist Party (Myers, 2000, p. 71). They defended the rights of China to protect her territory. The students did not respect any person who did not champion the rights of the Chinese government to modernize. The nationalist movement rallying of anti-imperialism made student movement to collide with foreign threats, which was beneficial to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The Chinese Community Party (CCP) and the Nationalist Party (GMD) were critical players in China in the early years of the 20th century. Until its overthrow in 1949, the Nationalist Party (GMD) was the governing party in China. During the Civil War, students, peasants, and workers’ social movements aided the communist party in defeating the GMD. Social movements sprung up to compel the government to make decisive decisions, but in vain. The CCP used the sentiments of the youths and the citizenry to infiltrate the social movements to influence their decisions. Peasant movements worked with the CCP to reform the land sectors. Thus, the mismanagement of the economy put pressure on the GMD and allowed the CCP to boost its support base.

References

Boudreau, V., and Meyer, D.S., 2009. Social Movements. In The SAGE Handbook of Comparative Politics, SAGE, 348-351.

Myers, R., 2000. ‘The Chinese State in the Republican Era.’ In The Modern Chinese State, edited by David Shambaugh. Cambridge University Press, 42-72

Van de Ven, H.J., 2003. War and Nationalism in China, 1925-1945 (No. 10). Psychology Press.

Westad, O., 2003. ‘Adjusting Heaven: Communist Rule in the Provinces’, in Decisive Encounters: The Chinese Civil War, 1946-1950. Stanford University Press, 107-143.