Benjamin K. Read, Roots of the State: Neighborhood Organization and Social Networks in Beijing and Taipei

Excerpt

Benjamin Read’s Roots of the State is a fascinating account of grassroots administrative organization in East Asia and Southeast Asia, with a focus on the capital cities of Beijing and Taipei. The author asks three research questions: 1) How do individuals perceive administrative grassroots engagement and respond to the kinds of authority and obligations the state channels through it; 2) How are vertical and horizontal networks intermingled and what sociopolitical effects follow from applying community ties to state-mandated purposes; and 3) to what extent can state-fostered grassroots organizations serve as focal points for democratic participation and channels for popular influence (p. 257). The questions are significant in the global analysis of state-society relations and their role in democratization. Read addresses these three research questions in seven substantive chapters. …