社会治理中的组织冲突——来自泰国的警示

Organizational Conflicts in Social Governance: A Warning from Thailand

社会组织对于一个国家的民主化和社会治理既有可能产生正面效应,也有可能产生负面效应。文章指出,这种负面效应在当代泰国非常典型。自从泰国民主转型以来,其社会组织与民主政府以及社会组织之间冲突不断。人们多看到社会组织的正面效应而忽视其负面效应,是因为他们将社会组织与社会资本混为一谈,认为前者可以培育后者。但事实未必如此。社会组织可能只关注小团体利益,缺少普遍性的信任、互惠与合作观念,未必能够培育社会资本。文章认为,社会资本受到很多因素影响,特别是与整个社会的文化传统密切相关。因此,无视不同国家在社会资本方面的巨大差异,而单纯建立社会组织,最后则有可能淮橘为枳。泰国社会治理中的组织冲突,就是前车之鉴。

Social organizations may have both positive and negative effects on the democratization and social governance of a country. The negative effects are typical in contemporary Thailand. Since Thailand's democratic transition, its social organizations have been in constant conflicts with the democratic government and other social organizations. The reason why people tend to see its positive effects while ignoring its negative effects is that they believe social organizations can cultivate social capitals. However, that's not necessarily the case. Social organizations may only focus on the interests of small groups and lack of universal concepts of trust, reciprocity and cooperation. They may not be able to cultivate social capitals which are closely related to many factors, especially the cultural traditions of the whole of society. If we ignore the huge differences in social capitals between different countries and simply establish social organizations, it may eventually backfire. The organizational conflicts in Thai social governance have provided cautionary tales for us.