Perceptions of Community Empowerment Among Resettlement Community Stakeholders in China: A Grounded Theory Study

Empowerment, a widely-used approach to community governance in Western societies, has recently attracted attention in China. This study aims to investigate whether empowerment can effectively enhance Chinese resettlement community governance. Using grounded theory, the conceptual framework of commun...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dongdong Wang, Jiaying An, Sheng Sun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2025-05-01
Series:SAGE Open
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251339112
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849325383435943936
author Dongdong Wang
Jiaying An
Sheng Sun
author_facet Dongdong Wang
Jiaying An
Sheng Sun
author_sort Dongdong Wang
collection DOAJ
description Empowerment, a widely-used approach to community governance in Western societies, has recently attracted attention in China. This study aims to investigate whether empowerment can effectively enhance Chinese resettlement community governance. Using grounded theory, the conceptual framework of community stakeholders’ perspectives on empowerment implementation was developed. Interviews were conducted with a total of 14 participants, which included community residents, government workers, and other relevant individuals through purposeful sampling. Additionally, six community residents were selected for a focus group discussion through theoretical sampling to validate the findings. Data extraction and coding were carried out by team members independently, leading to the identification of two distinct evaluation themes: (1) a positive impact on community governance, which includes promoting community participation among residents, particularly the elderly, improving community happiness, and enhancing community relations; and (2) a negative effect on community governance, such as exacerbating community inequality and causing confusion in community management. The findings indicate that Chinese resettlement communities may face challenges in implementing community empowerment, but also possess unique strengths. Suggestions for improvement in China and potential strategies for Western societies to enhance their empowerment approaches can be derived from this study.
format Article
id doaj-art-ffd63c100656407e9cd9ebcd97c11eed
institution Kabale University
issn 2158-2440
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher SAGE Publishing
record_format Article
series SAGE Open
spelling doaj-art-ffd63c100656407e9cd9ebcd97c11eed2025-08-20T03:48:26ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402025-05-011510.1177/21582440251339112Perceptions of Community Empowerment Among Resettlement Community Stakeholders in China: A Grounded Theory StudyDongdong Wang0Jiaying An1Sheng Sun2 Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, China Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, China Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, ChinaEmpowerment, a widely-used approach to community governance in Western societies, has recently attracted attention in China. This study aims to investigate whether empowerment can effectively enhance Chinese resettlement community governance. Using grounded theory, the conceptual framework of community stakeholders’ perspectives on empowerment implementation was developed. Interviews were conducted with a total of 14 participants, which included community residents, government workers, and other relevant individuals through purposeful sampling. Additionally, six community residents were selected for a focus group discussion through theoretical sampling to validate the findings. Data extraction and coding were carried out by team members independently, leading to the identification of two distinct evaluation themes: (1) a positive impact on community governance, which includes promoting community participation among residents, particularly the elderly, improving community happiness, and enhancing community relations; and (2) a negative effect on community governance, such as exacerbating community inequality and causing confusion in community management. The findings indicate that Chinese resettlement communities may face challenges in implementing community empowerment, but also possess unique strengths. Suggestions for improvement in China and potential strategies for Western societies to enhance their empowerment approaches can be derived from this study.https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251339112
spellingShingle Dongdong Wang
Jiaying An
Sheng Sun
Perceptions of Community Empowerment Among Resettlement Community Stakeholders in China: A Grounded Theory Study
SAGE Open
title Perceptions of Community Empowerment Among Resettlement Community Stakeholders in China: A Grounded Theory Study
title_full Perceptions of Community Empowerment Among Resettlement Community Stakeholders in China: A Grounded Theory Study
title_fullStr Perceptions of Community Empowerment Among Resettlement Community Stakeholders in China: A Grounded Theory Study
title_full_unstemmed Perceptions of Community Empowerment Among Resettlement Community Stakeholders in China: A Grounded Theory Study
title_short Perceptions of Community Empowerment Among Resettlement Community Stakeholders in China: A Grounded Theory Study
title_sort perceptions of community empowerment among resettlement community stakeholders in china a grounded theory study
url https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251339112
work_keys_str_mv AT dongdongwang perceptionsofcommunityempowermentamongresettlementcommunitystakeholdersinchinaagroundedtheorystudy
AT jiayingan perceptionsofcommunityempowermentamongresettlementcommunitystakeholdersinchinaagroundedtheorystudy
AT shengsun perceptionsofcommunityempowermentamongresettlementcommunitystakeholdersinchinaagroundedtheorystudy