Deciphering the Socio-Ecological Determinants of Contemporary Collective Action in China: Insights from 2010–2016 Panel Data Analysis

Abstract The current study delves into the macro-level driving forces behind collective action in contemporary China, advancing beyond the constraints of previous narrower perspectives by adopting an all-encompassing socio-ecological and cultural approach. Utilizing the CASM-China database and analyzing 2454 socio-ecological indicators, we scrutinize the incidence of conventional, disruptive, and violent collective actions, alongside 11 manually coded triggers. Furthermore, employing panel data spanning from 2010 to 2016 enhances the robustness of our predictor selection, while a principal component analysis reveals a four–factor structure. Significantly, the Modernization dimension (factor 1) predicts both conventional and violent collective actions, correlating with issues such as “ education ” and “ homeowner/property ”. The Secondary and Tertiary Industries dimension (factor 2) forecasts disruptive collective action, associated with “ pension/welfare ” problems. In contrast, the Primary Industry dimension (factor 3) shows a negative correlation with violent and disruptive collective actions, particularly affecting “ medical dispute ” issues. The Living Condition dimension (factor 4) positively correlates with conventional collective action with various social issues. These findings deepen our comprehension of the intricate interplay between socio-cultural and ecological factors and collective action in China, offering new pathways for future research.