Civil Society In China

Professor Karla Simon will be giving a talk about her book Civil Society in China at Harvard Kennedy School. The book was awarded the number three spot on the list of Ten Best Humanitarian Books for 2103 by the Humanitarian Times.

Karla W. Simon (L.L.M., NYU) is Chairperson of ICCSL.  Previously, she was Research Professor of Law at the Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America. Simon’s scholarly interests include comparative civil society law, with focus principally on China. She has authored over 10 books and book chapters, most focusing on legal issues affecting civil society. Her new book is titled Civil Society in China: A Legal Analysis from Ancient Times to the “New Reform Era” (Oxford University Press, 2013). Previous books include Outsourcing Social Services to Civil Society Organizations in China and Around the World (with Wang, Salamon & Irish 2009) and Charity Law and Social Policy (with O’Halloran and McGregor-Lowndes 2008). She is cofounder (with Dr. Leon Irish) of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL, 1992, and she served as its first President from 1992-1996) and of the International Center for Civil Society Law (www.iccsl.org, 2002).

The subtitle for the book is The Legal Framework from Ancient Times to the “New Reform Era,” and in the book Professor Simon explores the connections between laws and regulations and social and economic development in the associational sphere. Her talk will draw these linkages, and will address the “contradictions” in the state’s treatment of civil society organizations in 2013. She will also discuss the opening space for some types of civil society organizations and contrast that with the clampdown on the New Citizens’ Movement.