Police Civilianization and the Production of Underclass Violence: The Case of Para-police Chengguan and Street Vendors in Guangzhou, China

Abstract Using data collected from systematic social observation, participant observation, interviews, and content analysis of media reports in Guangzhou, this article studies violent confrontation between China’s para-police chengguan (urban management officers) and street vendors. We find that mos...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of criminology 2019-01, Vol.59 (1), p.64-84
Main Authors: Xu, Jianhua, Jiang, Anli
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
City planning and redevelopment law
Civilian employees
Convergence
Economic aspects
ESTATE PLANNING
HOUSING
Law enforcement
Planning
POLICE
Politics and government
Street vendors
Urban poor
VIOLENCE
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Using data collected from systematic social observation, participant observation, interviews, and content analysis of media reports in Guangzhou, this article studies violent confrontation between China’s para-police chengguan (urban management officers) and street vendors. We find that most violent confrontations occur between street vendors and civilian staff—auxiliary chengguan—rather than between street vendors and sworn officers—official chengguan. We further reveal that the unequal power structure within the chengguan system shapes the division of labour between official chengguan and auxiliary chengguan, resulting in most of the ‘dirty work’ of street-level law enforcement being conducted by the latter, the second-class staff in the system. The research contributes to our understanding of pluralised policing and how police civilianization affects a convergence of violence within the underclass as both auxiliary chengguan and street vendors are recruited from urban poor.
ISSN:0007-0955
1464-3529
DOI:10.1093/bjc/azy018