On the Innovation of Grassroots Social Governance in Ethnic Minority Areas from the Perspective of Group Communication

Zhang Hongshu

DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1674-9391.2021.07.007

Abstract：Grassroots social governance in ethnic minority areas is about the foundation of national governance and rural revitalization.As the basic unit of social governance， towns and streets， urban and rural communities are the basic platforms for social governance innovation and are the cornerstone for consolidating the foundation of Party rule. What's more， ethnic regions make up the main part of border areas， hence their governance and social buildup are directly linked to the foundation of national governance and national security. Furthermore， the main areas of relative poverty considerably overlap with ethnic regions; thus， strengthening local social governance in these regions is essential to poverty alleviation. Effective governance is one of the general requirements and a key element of rural revitalization. The goal of grassroots governance in ethnic regions is to realize a pattern of co-construction， co-governance， and sharing.

Large-scale mobility in ethnic regions urgently needs a makeover of the social governace system.First of all， the direct consequence of social mobility in ethnic minority areas is the rupture of the social support system that is based on the bonds of blood and kinship. This rupture deconstructs the basis of social governance at the grassroots level.Therefore， it is urgent to rebuild the mechanism of social governance at the local level and reconstruct the basis of social functioning at the grassroots level. The adoption of mobility social governance has become a necessary choice. The adjustment of group communication provides a possible path for mobility governance. In the age of group communication， the meeting space has been transformed from “real physical space” to “virtual space”， the group has been transformed from a “real group” to? “imagined community，” and this “mobile community” has become the new identity space. The result is that the temporary group has become superior to previous formal systems of interaction and participation.

The most important thing for grassroots social governance in ethnic minority areas is to rebuild the connection with local people in the “spontaneous space”， so as to change the “bonding zone” of society and to re-establish links with the local government and create an interaction mechanism between the government and the people. The new venture of grassroots social governance in ethnic regions from the perspective of group communication includes the following： a） to give full play to the cultivation of elites among the common people and to a selection mechanism for the “mobile community”， and build a reservoir of grassroots governance talents in ethnic minority areas; b） to establish a local information gathering mechanism， reconstruct social governance resources in ethnic minority areas， resolve the supposed contradiction between ethnic identity and national identity， and consolidate a consciousness of the Chinese national community; c） to rebuild the Chinese conceptual narrative of the hometown， improve the apparatus for dialogue， consultation， and mobile governance， change the social bonding zone， reconstruct the community， consolidate the foundation of social governance， and interact and co-govern locally; d） to establish a social attitude identification mechanism， an early warning mechanism for social dysfunctions， and a response mechanism for social concerns， to reconstruct a grassroots public security system in ethnic minority areas， and improve service efficiency.

Key Words： group communication; ethnic minority areas; grassroots social governance; mobility; shared governance