Unpacking the Engagement: Chinese Christian Engagements in Rural Social Assistance as Social Capital
- DOI
- 10.2991/978-2-38476-382-5_40How to use a DOI?
- Keywords
- Chinese Christianity; Charity; Social engagement; Rural China; Social capital
- Abstract
This study examines the role of Chinese Christianity in rural charity work, using social capital theory to analyze its advantages on social assistance activities. Since the 1980s, Chinese Christianity has emerged as a new form of social capital, creating networks of trust and cooperation that are distinct from traditional kinship ties. By fostering both bonding and bridging social capital, Christian organizations lead to the development of rural charity initiatives and complement the existing social order. Despite challenges like political restrictions and identity issues, Chinese Christianity plays a significant role in rural social assistance, enhancing social cohesion and collaboration with other organizations. The study highlights the potential of religion as social capital in promoting rural development and charity work.
- Copyright
- © 2025 The Author(s)
- Open Access
- Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.
Cite this article
TY - CONF AU - Muyuan Li PY - 2025 DA - 2025/03/28 TI - Unpacking the Engagement: Chinese Christian Engagements in Rural Social Assistance as Social Capital BT - Proceedings of the 2024 International Conference on Social Sciences and Educational Development (ICOSSED 2024) PB - Atlantis Press SP - 395 EP - 404 SN - 2352-5398 UR - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-382-5_40 DO - 10.2991/978-2-38476-382-5_40 ID - Li2025 ER -