Playing by the Informal Rules

Yao Li is a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at The Johns Hopkins University and was a Lecturer in the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Kansas. She was named an Exemplary Diversity Scholar by the University of Michigan's National Center for Institutional Diversity in 2015.

• 1. Introduction: rising protests and regime stability; 2. Mapping the space for protest; 3. Accommodating informal norms in regime-engaging protests; 4. Unequal application of accommodating informal norms: inequality in protest space; 5. Antagonistic informal norms in regime-threatening protests; 6. Conclusion; Appendix I; Appendix II; References; Index.

'Playing by the Informal Rules tackles the important question of why we see regime resilience amidst high frequency of protests in China. Yao Li argues the answer lies in the state's use of informal norms in managing contention. Using both quantitative and qualitative field research data, Yao Li has been able to examine the macro picture and micro dynamics of protest cases. This well-researched book speaks to a broad range of literature in authoritarian politics and social movement. It deserves to be widely read.' Lynette Ong, University of Toronto