Social capital and power: Entrepreneurial elite and the state in contemporary China

Abstract

Unlike the idea of civil society, the concept of social capital has yet to be widely used in the field of Chinese studies. Based on a case study of entrepreneurial organizations in Suzhou, this paper illustrates the unique and complex process of social capital formation in reform-era China among the newly emergent Chinese business elite. Entrepreneurs use social capital to influence state policymaking and to forge a relationship between entrepreneurial organizations and the state that involves a dynamic process of power negotiation. The findings shed some light on how to revise thinking about civil society and the state in contemporary China.