How to treat the current situation of mass incidents in China

Scholars have different views on the research status of group emergencies in China. Some scholars believe that the domestic research on mass incidents has achieved the following main results: "From the perspective of cut-in, it shows the characteristics of gradual and in-depth advancement. From the perspective of research scope and research methods, there are not only the overall investigation of mass incidents in the whole country, but also the local discussion of mass incidents in different regions and departments: there are both macro-countermeasure analysis and case empirical analysis, showing the diversity of research fields and methods. Generally speaking, compared with the mass incidents in the early days of reform and opening up, the development trends of domestic mass incidents that deserve special attention at present are as follows:

1. the tendency of organization is becoming more and more obvious, and it is developing towards organized planning?

in the early days, most of the organization forms of group events were spontaneous and loose. The subject of group events is composed of some people who are consistent because of a certain interest relationship. In this special group, there may be organizers and planners, as well as ordinary participants. Their purpose is for some special interests of the group, so their behavior is consistent and utilitarian. Once some interests are met, this group will not exist. Therefore, most of these "mass incidents" have no organizational appearance, or there are no masterminds and core organizations that manipulate the whole incident. Their group actions may show some traces of organization, and their resistance has certain rules and momentum. However, most of the participants are temporarily reconciled people, and usually only some people gather for their own purposes, make on-the-spot motions and make temporary plans, and then put forward various issues that involve the participants' common concern and are easily accepted by the society.

At present, domestic mass incidents show an increasingly prominent tendency of organization.

First, the large-scale mass incidents are now well organized, and the major mass incidents are basically instigated and fully prepared, with leaders or backbones connecting, directing and manipulating them. A considerable number of mass incidents have established organizations (or spontaneous organizations) at the beginning of brewing. It is not difficult to find the shadow of "capable people" or "senior staff" in some events.

Second, in communication, various ways, such as oral notice, telephone notice and even posting written notice, are used to promote mass gathering and group interaction by various means.

Third, in the choice of strategy, it generally does not involve social core ideas, but seeks the basis for action from the traditional political discourse and legal framework, endows one's actions with the meaning that conforms to the dominant value, and strives to be reasonable and legal, depoliticized as much as possible, and pays attention to avoiding being interpreted as "opposing the party and the government" and being labeled as opposing the government. For example, many incidents always take the "survival needs" of laid-off workers and vulnerable groups as moral support, and strive for the sympathy and recognition of the masses under the banner of "begging for food" and "working". Another example is that Zhengzhou Shengda College students "changed their faces" because of their diplomas, wearing cultural shirts printed with "integrity" and shouting "Give me back my diploma; The slogan "Return my parents' hard-earned money" is self-evident. The fourth is to choose sensitive days to create trouble. In the course of action, we unified slogans and dress, printed banners, slogans and distributed leaflets, and tried every means to put pressure on the government. Fifth, in terms of behavior, some cases show some restraint, such as the "October 24 incident" in Xianyang (24) and the "incident of migrant workers blocking roads to seek justice" in Shenzhen Special Zone (26). On the premise of improving the organizational level of group events, there will be another possibility, and the expression of group events is more limited to the rational category; Some mass incidents solve problems through negotiation, bargaining, concession and compromise, leaving room for the settlement of conflicts. ?

2. More "indirect interests" participate, among which the composition of "action masses" increases

Generally speaking, there are three kinds of people gathered at the scene of group events, namely "participants", "opponents" and "bystanders". Participants are obviously fighting for their own interests, while more social members are just bystanders (that is, "indirect stakeholders"), and they have no interest motive to participate in the event. Today, there are more "indirect interests" involved in mass incidents, which constitute the basic masses of mass incidents. Participants in the initial group events have strong homogeneity in personnel composition, and most of them are vulnerable groups whose interests are relatively damaged during the transition period. In today's cases involving a large number of people, many participants' own interests have not been directly damaged, but just ordinary bystanders. In many mass incidents, as long as someone takes the lead in making trouble, the development of the incident may be greeted with all kinds of responses, and bystanders can easily become action masses. At present, the detonation process of serious mass emergencies is generally manifested in the rapid assembly of personnel from all walks of life, the rapid increase in the number, and the rapid formation of a certain scale and mutual echo. At the same time, because of the cross-infection of group emotions, it will lead to excessive group behavior, which in turn will lead to fanaticism, causing group emotions to vent and be difficult to control.

From the behavioral characteristics of the participants, there are great differences between the current participants and the initial participants. At present, the participants' emotions in mass incidents are becoming more and more antagonistic. On the basis of the same psychological emotions of the masses, the number of "action masses" on the scene has increased, and excessive behavior has become prominent. Even extreme behaviors such as illegally occupying public places, surrounding and attacking important organs and departments and key units, and causing vandalism and looting may occur. At present, the violent confrontation of mass incidents has obviously aggravated the possibility of the transformation of contradictory nature, that is, the possibility of changing from economic issues or right and wrong issues to friend or foe issues, and from non-confrontational to confrontational has increased. ? As for the reason why bystanders become more participants, some researchers believe that "this conflict is caused by people's dissatisfaction with some public power holders"; Other researchers believe that "the more people can't fight with words, the more likely they are to turn to violence, and even those who are not directly involved in violence may be more sympathetic to those mass incidents that have violent resistance." To some extent, the fact that "indirect interests" become direct participants in the event regardless of social risks shows that the nature of the event is changing quietly, which may indicate that domestic mass incidents have entered a new stage. ?

3. Foreign political forces try to get involved in domestic group events and promote the transformation of interest demands?

Recently, some subtle changes have taken place in the starting point of conflicts and the language of "litigation theme" in domestic mass incidents. From land issues to environmental pollution, to the purpose of declaring and establishing the abstract "legitimate rights and interests" of farmers as a social group, the content of the protests has become more and more extensive and profound. Under this background, the state and form of mass incidents are more complicated. Some overseas political forces use mass incidents and some social sensitive issues to spread rumors and slander, maliciously speculate, attack China's political system and vilify the image of China's * * * production party and government. Some mass incidents were originally triggered by the pursuit of economic interests, which were limited to specific interests. However, with the intervention of some overseas NGOs or "civil rights defenders", economic problems showed signs of politicization, and even showed a tendency of "seeking solutions outside the system" in some areas. Some general mass incidents have been touched by people with ulterior motives and intensified into serious mass emergencies. Behind some events with secretive and changeable behavior patterns and obvious politicization tendency, the possibility of extreme individuals and groups with certain political purposes or seeking a certain social interest is not ruled out. We must attach great importance to the variability of contradictory nature, and prevent serious mass incidents from evolving into mass emergencies and riots, riots and social unrest due to improper handling. ?

4. The social mentality is extremely fragile, and the "resentment variable" grows

At present, the public social mentality environment in some areas of China is fragile, even deformed, and several points are thought-provoking. The imbalance of social mentality is an important inducing factor for group events. The Chizhou incident in Anhui Province was originally just an ordinary traffic accident. It was not a big event, but it turned into a major mass incident where tens of thousands of people gathered. In Harbin's "BMW collision incident", an ordinary BMW has become a symbol of power and money, which has aroused the public's great hatred of "the rampage of the rich". The "1.18 Incident" in Wanzhou is just a "rumor of civil servants", which constitutes the reason for the gathering of ten thousand people. The onlookers stopped the police from performing official duties, indicating that the masses had doubts about the fairness of the local government's administrative actions.

the decisive catalyst in Wanzhou incident is a lie and its misinformation: the seller lied that he was a national civil servant, and anything can be settled. This end alone is enough to irritate the onlookers, and then by magnifying the shape, a mass incident will be caused. " Why can a lie cause such a big emotional reaction from the public? The follow-up study found that the cause of the incident seemed simple and accidental, but Wanzhou incident had its inherent inevitability, which was the result of the deep-seated contradictions and problems accumulated in the previous Three Gorges resettlement work. An ordinary traffic accident, a simple criminal case, or even a lie made up for courage may lead to an irrational venting of collective unconsciousness. This kind of dissatisfaction with society, government and reality may be more terrible than the mass incident itself. In the process of social transformation, the people's extreme distrust of local governments and the public's extremely fragile social mentality are the greatest dangers of social stability.