从服务到自治:社会性基础设施何以增能基层自治?——基于上海社区治理创新的经验观察

From Service to Self-governance:How Can Social Infrastructure Enable Community Autonomy?——An Empirical Observation Based on Community Governance Innovation in Shanghai

国家在强化对基层渗透的同时为何能够向社会赋能推动基层自治发展?本研究借助米格代尔“将国家分解开来观察”的思路,通过对上海社区治理创新的追踪观察,发现政府打造公共服务平台(空间)的同时,“意外”地推动了基层自治的发展。深入分析可以发现,这些平台属于典型的社会性基础设施,通过服务与活动诱发了“社会连接”,并通过激活共同利益、营造公共空间、培育社会资本、赋能公共事务治理等进一步发展为“社会团结”。在这过程中社会性基础设施从服务空间发展为承载个体和家庭之外的公共空间与政治空间,进而激发了居民自治动力,提高了其自治能力。由此国家通过弱行政色彩的纵向服务供给撬动了社区横向自治的发展,社会性基础设施是重要抓手,“服务-空间-自治”是有效联动增能机制。未来研究需要关注服务与自治的关系,社会性基础设施是其中的学理性切口,同时也具有实践指导意义。

How can the state empower society to promote social self-governance while strengthening its penetration into the community?This study draws on Migdale's idea of"disaggregating the state"and finds that the government's creation of public service platforms(spaces)has"accidentally"promoted the development of community self-governance,through the tracking of community governance innovations in Shanghai.A deeper analysis reveals that these platforms are typical social infrastructures that induce"social connections"through services,activities and further develop into"social solidarity",by activating common interests,creating public spaces,fostering social capital,and empowering governance of public affairs.The process of social infrastructure evolves from the activation of common interests,creation of public spaces,cultivation of social capital,and empowerment of public affairs governance to"social solidarity".In this process,social infrastructure evolves from a service space to a public and political space beyond the individual and family,which in turn stimulates residents'autonomy and enhances their capacity for self-governance.The state thus leverages the development of horizontal community autonomy through vertical service provision with weak administrative overtones,with social infrastructure as an important grip and"service-space-autonomy"as an effective linkage energizing mechanism.Future research needs to focus on the relationship between service and self-governance of which social infrastructure is a theoretical cut-off point and a practical guide.