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James Scott (1985 Scott, J.C. 1985. Weapons of the weak: everyday forms of resistance. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Google Scholar) placed ‘everyday forms of resistance’ between quiescence and rebellion. Others have noted that defiance in unpromising circumstances need not be quiet, disguised and anonymous if the aggrieved use the language of power to mitigate the risks of confrontation. How does ‘rightful resistance’ (O'Brien and Li 2006 O'Brien, K.J. and L.J. Li. 2006. Rightful resistance in rural China. New York: Cambridge University Press.Crossref , Google Scholar) relate to Scott's everyday resistance and other types of protest in contemporary China? Are rightful resisters sincere or strategic? Is their contention reactive or proactive? Does rightful resistance suggest growing rights consciousness or only a familiar rules consciousness? Rightful resistance in rural China has been criticized for (1) lacking ‘peasantness’, (2) shortchanging history and culture, (3) focusing on elite allies and one pattern of protest and (4) being overly rationalist, state-centric and caught in ‘developmental thinking’. How do I respond?
Kevin J. O’Brien (Mon,) studied this question.