Eva Pils. “From Independent Lawyer Groups to Civic Opposition: The Case of China’s New Citizen Movement.” Asian-Pacific Law & Policy Journal, vol. 19, no. 1 (2017): 110-152.
This article explores how lawyers in authoritarian and backsliding regimes, specifically China, shift from legal professionals to civic activists in response to systemic institutional dysfunction. The article centers on the New Citizen Movement—a grassroots initiative led by legal scholar and rights defender Xu Zhiyong—as a critical case study of how attorneys become central figures in democratic resistance under repressive rule.
Initially, Chinese lawyers engaged in traditional legal advocacy for political rights, navigating a restrictive and increasingly hostile legal system. However, as formal legal mechanisms failed to provide justice or accountability, these legal professionals were pushed toward broader forms of civic activism. The rise of the New Citizen Movement marked a turning point: it demonstrated the evolution of rights lawyers into organized civic opposition, using legal discourse and professional ethics as a form of political resistance.
Following the government’s crackdown on the movement, particularly Xu’s arrest and imprisonment in 2014, the article details how attorneys continued to play a vital role in civic resistance despite heightened repression. Many lawyers faced professional disbarment, harassment, and imprisonment, yet remained active voices challenging state abuses—often at great personal and professional risk.