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 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.