Narrative stories in Chinese characters: political framing of ageing and welfare reform in China

Abstract

This article analyses narrative stories used by the Chinese government to connect the problem of population ageing to welfare reform. The findings derived from semi-structural interviews and key policy documents suggest the unfolding of the narrative stories of power and stories of rising and stories of decline. The narrative stories in the developmental Chinese welfare state are diverse and stem from different processes than those for the mature European welfare states. The Narrative stories also vary for different policy areas. For inequality and health-care policies, under the master narrative of story of power, state depicts 'stories of giving-to-give' to support expansion in the traditional 'old risk' type of policies to main population, including the elderly. For longterm care, the power narrative of 'giving-to-shape' legitimizes the expansionary reforms for a small group of deserving frail elderly. Behind this political framing of long-term care reform lies the story of decline that justifies the modest role of state provision in the organization of long-term care and leaves the responsibility for economic, social and spiritual wellbeing for the society itself. The story of decline in China also gravitates around sustainability of societies rather than around financial sustainability commonly underlining the political debate in the West.

Narrative strategies in a nondemocratic setting: Moscow’s urban policy debates

“…This large difference between the narratives of the governmental and opposition sides of policy debates may be due to the nondemocratic context. The literature suggests that an authoritarian setting leads to a separation of public discourse into two very separated debates with a dominance of pro-and anti-government positions, respectively (Filatova et al, 2019;Toepfl, 2013;Vakhtin & Firsov, 2016). The interaction and exchange of arguments between the two camps is low and issues are mostly debated among like-minded people.…”

“…To date, the NPF has almost exclusively been applied to liberal democracies, and the framework “was not necessarily developed with authoritarian regimes in mind” (Jones & McBeth, 2020, p. 9). Yet, citizens in nondemocratic countries also use narratives to make sense of the world, and policymakers in these countries also strategically employ narratives to convince audiences (Bacon, 2012; Maags, 2020; Van Gerven, 2019).…”

Nonprofit contracting and partnership in elderly care: a comparison between china and the Netherlands

“…The service market created by government demands has become a major source of professionalization and modernization of nonprofits in China. Currently, nonprofit organizations in China have been engaged in the provision of long-term services for the elderly (Van Gerven, 2019b). In the past, the collaborative networks in elderly services were largely informal and heavily reliant on flexible negotiations and trust, blurring the boundaries between governments and nonprofits.…”

Policy narrative, policy understanding and policy support intention: a survey experiment on energy conservation

“…And eventually, the individuals are persuaded by the narrative message. Arising from this string of literature is a view of policy implementation not making rational appeals to the public to support the policy, but rather using language and symbolic power, as well as some social construction and storytelling skills to influence the attitudes and opinions of target populations towards the public problems at hand and the solutions to be adopted (Jones and Song 2014;Merry 2018;Van Gerven 2019).…”