The Dual Structure of Rural Social Subjectivity and Its Catalyst: A Case Study of an Environmental NGO and Its Practice

Sun Feiyu & Zhang Yuxin

Published in The Study of Sociology, 2024, Issue 1.

Abstract: Based on the materials from qualitative studies, this paper adopts the theoretical perspective of phenomenological sociology and employs the process-event method, and takes the case inspired by the environmental protection initiatives of an NGO, particularly focusing on their Program of Community Mutual Fund, in an attempt to gain insights into the subjectivity of the Chinese rural society from the perspective of the structure of the life world. Through case studies, this paper reveals that the social space as a whole and the historical context of families, clans and villages are the primary vehicles of the subjectivity of local societies, which is characterized by structural dispersion across the social space and continuity in the socio-temporal-historical dimension. Emotions and reasons from these ethical relationships and moral practices within these local communities serves as catalysts for shaping this subjectivity.

Keywords: phenomenological sociology, rural social subjectivity, external elicitation, structurality and diffuseness, psychodynamics