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Cited by 220China's Socioeconomic Reforms and GovernanceLegal Systems and Judicial ProcessesJudicial and Constitutional Studies

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Lawyers, Political Embeddedness, and Institutional Continuity in China’s Transition from Socialism

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Michelson, Ethan·2007·American Journal of Sociology
DOI 10.1086/518907
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Abstract

This article uses the case of Chinese lawyers, their professional troubles, and their coping strategies to build on and develop the concept of political embeddedness. Data from a first‐of‐its‐kind 25‐city survey suggest that political embeddedness, defined broadly as bureaucratic, instrumental, or affective ties to the state and its actors, helps Chinese lawyers survive their everyday difficulties, such as routine administrative interference, official rent seeking, and police harassment and intimidation. The article draws the ironic conclusion that legal practice in China reveals at least as much about the enduring salience of socialist institutions as it does about incipient capitalist and “rule of law” institutions. Lawyers' dependence on state actors both inside and outside the judicial system preserves the value of political connections inside the very institutions that some sociologists have argued are responsible for obviating the need for such guanxi.

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Metadata

Authors
Michelson, E.
Affiliations
Indiana University Bloomington (US)
Corresponding author
Michelson, Ethan
ORCID
Michelson, Ethan
Venue
American Journal of Sociology
Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Published
2007-09
Volume
113
Issue
2
Pages
352-414
ISSN
  • 0002-9602 (ISSN-L)
  • 1537-5390
DOI
10.1086/518907
OpenAlex
W2003576591
Cited by
220
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 9
FWCI
43.47
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • American Journal of Sociology (publishedVersion)
  • SSRN Electronic Journal (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance
  • Social Sciences › Law › Legal Systems and Judicial Processes
  • Social Sciences › Law › Judicial and Constitutional Studies
Keywords
Chinese lawyers, political embeddedness, guanxi, institutional continuity, transition from socialism, administrative intervention, rent-seeking, police harassment, legal profession, state dependence, rule of law, affective bonds

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