Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards

One should be careful praising books to which one has contributed oneself. But I make an exception for this volume which makes a comparison of the experiences of NGOs in China and Europe. The chapters on China contain the most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of various types of NGOs currently active in the country. The contributions on foreign NGOs in China, non-governmental think tanks, public interest legal organizations, labour related NGOs and charity organizations, are the first in English to discuss successful experiences as well as the difficulties they face in the post-Mao era. They show that the Chinese government does not know on which foot to dance. It wants a flourishing civil society (without which social and economic growth cannot be sustained) but also wants to continue to exercise full control over developments less ‘harmony’ is threatened.  This applies specially to NGO work in the sensitive human rights sector.

The European studies draw examples from countries where the experiences of NGOs are at various stages of development. The section on NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe examines the rapid expansion of civil society and their pivotal role in promoting political change and building democracy in a transitional society, as well as the challenges they confront in advancing a strong civil society. Those chapters on NGOs’ experiences in Western European countries, especially in the Netherlands and the UK, provide insightful information and examination of the most contentious issues about NGOs’ accountability, fundraising, governance and relationship with their governments.

Contents: Introduction: challenges and opportunities for NGOs in different parts of the world, Yuwen Li; Part I NGOs in the Context of China: International NGOs in China: current situation, impacts and response of the Chinese Government, Han Junkui; The development and institutional environment of non-governmental think tanks in China, Jia Xijin; Development of charities in China since the reform and opening up, Liu Peifeng; The development of women’s NGOs in China, Shen Guoqin; Public interest legal organizations in China: current situation and prospect for future development, Xie Haiding; A review of the development of labour organizations in China in the 30 years since the reform and opening up, Zhou Shaoqing. Part II Civil Society Organizations in Europe: The voluntary sector and government: perspectives from the UK, Liz Atkins; Creating an enabling environment for NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe, Nilda Bullain; Socially responsible NGOs? A European perspective, Paul Dekker; The role and organization of voluntary action, Richard Fries; Oversight on fundraising by NPOs: Dutch experiences with a European perspective, Adri Kemps; Civil society in the Czech Republic, Petr Jan Pajas; Learning for a lifetime: NGOs, capacity building and nonprofit education in Eastern Europe, Balazs Sator.

My own contribution: ” The international human rights movement: not perfect, but a lot better than many governments think” traces the development of the international human rights movement of the last 60 years and zooms in on those aspects that are the most often misunderstood – or found objectionable – by authoritarian states.

The editor is Yuwen Li, Associate Professor of Chinese Law at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. The publisher is Ashgate, 340 pages, ISBN: 978-1-4094-1959-4 (ebook, ISBN 978-1-4094-1960-0)