Abstract
Previous studies related to civil society in China tend to focus on whether or not China has a civil society. Following the critique of the Neo-Tocquevillian approach, this thesis turns to the nonprofit sector in China and explores how civic actions are achieved or hampered in different organizational contexts, including NGOs and social entrepreneurship. Using depth interview data collected from leaders of various organizations in China, this thesis suggests that even though the political environment imposes a constraint on social organizations’ public promotion and organizational activities, other structural factors, such as pressure from foundations, lack of modern philanthropic ideas and practices, and nascent social organizational statuses, also contribute to an insular donor-NGO universe in China. Only mature NGOs, which are capable of developing public fundraising activities, and social entrepreneurship, which addresses unpolitical problems, are able to achieve civic actions.