Delegated Dictatorship: Examining the State and Market Forces behind Information Control in China

A large body of literature devoted to analyzing information control in China concludes that we find imperfect censorship because the state has adopted a minimalist strategy for information control. In other words, the state is deliberately selective about the content that it censors. While some claim that the government limits its attention to the most categorically harmful content—content that may lead to mobilization—others suggest that the state limits the scope of censorship to allow space for criticism which enables the state to gather information about popular grievances or badly performing local cadres. In contrast, I argue that imperfect censorship in China results from a precise and covert implementation of the government's maximalist strategy for information control. The state is intolerant of government criticisms, discussions of collective action, non-official coverage of crime, and a host of other types of information that may challenge state authority and legitimacy. This strategy produces imperfect censorship because the state prefers to implement it covertly, and thus, delegates to private companies, targets repression, and engages in astroturfing to reduce the visibility and disruptiveness of information control tactics. This both insulates the state from popular backlash and increases the effectiveness of its informational interventions. I test the hypotheses generated from this theory by analyzing a custom dataset of censorship logs from a popular social media company, Sina Weibo. These logs measure the government's intent about what content should and should not be censored. A systematic analysis of content targeted for censorship demonstrates the broadness of the government's censorship agenda. These data also show that delegation to private companies softens and refines the state's informational interventions so that the government's broad agenda is maximally implemented while minimizing popular backlash that would otherwise threaten the effectiveness of its informational interventions.PHDPolitical ScienceUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147514/1/blakeapm_1.pd

Cybernationalism and cyberactivism in China

El nacionalismo en la era de Internet se está convirtiendo cada vez más en un factor esencial que influye en la agenda-setting de la sociedad china, así como en las relaciones de China con los países extranjeros, especialmente con Occidente. Para China, una mejor comprensión de la estructura teórica universal y de los patrones de comportamiento del nacionalismo facilitaría la articulación social general de esta tendencia y potenciaría su papel positivo en la agenda-setting social. Por otra parte, un estudio del cibernacionalismo chino basado en una perspectiva china en el mundo académico occidental es un intento de transculturación. Desde el punto de vista de las relaciones internacionales y la geopolítica actuales, que son bastante urgentes, este intento ayudaría a mejorar la compatibilidad de China con el actual orden mundial dominado por Occidente, a reducir la desinformación entre China y otros países y a sentar las bases culturales e ideológicas para otras colaboraciones internacionales. Teniendo en cuenta el estado actual de la investigación sobre el nacionalismo chino y la naturaleza participativa de las masas del cibernacionalismo, esta disertación se centra en el cibernacionalismo en las tres partes siguientes. El primero es un estudio de los orígenes históricos del cibernacionalismo chino. Esta sección incluye tanto una exploración del consenso social en la antigua China como un estudio de la influencia del nacionalismo en la historia china moderna. El estudio de los orígenes históricos no sólo nos muestra la secuencia cronológica de la experiencia del desarrollo y la evolución tanto del proto-nacionalismo como del nacionalismo en China, sino que también revela un impulso decisivo para las reivindicaciones y comportamientos actuales del cibernacionalismo. La segunda parte trata del proceso de formación y ascenso del cibernacionalismo desde el siglo XXI. El importante antecedente del paso del nacionalismo al cibernacionalismo es el proceso de informatización de la sociedad china. Una vez completado el estudio de la situación básica de la sociedad china de Internet, especialmente el estudio de los medios sociales como espacio público, podemos vincular Internet con el nacionalismo y examinar el nuevo desarrollo del nacionalismo en la era de la participación de masas. El objetivo final es conectar el proto-nacionalismo, el nacionalismo y el cibernacionalismo, y seguir construyendo una comprensión del cibernacionalismo que sea coherente tanto con los principios universales del nacionalismo como con el contexto chino. Por último, validamos los resultados derivados del estudio anterior a través de la realidad social, es decir, estudiando las prácticas de ciberactivismo del cibernacionalismo para juzgar su suficiencia general así como su validez. Llevaremos a cabo varios estudios de caso de natural language processing basados en big data para reproducir la lógica de comportamiento y el impacto real del ciberactivismo de la manera más cercana posible a la realidad de Internet, evitando al mismo tiempo los defectos de argumentación unilateral y de infrarrepresentación de los estudios de caso tradicionales.Nationalism in the Internet age is increasingly becoming an essential factor influencing agendasetting within Chinese society, as well as China’s relations with foreign countries, especially the West. For China, a better understanding of the universal theoretical structure and behavioral patterns of nationalism would facilitate the overall social articulation of this trend and enhance its positive role in social agenda setting. On the other hand, a study of Chinese cybernationalism based on a Chinese perspective in western academia is an attempt at transculturation. From the viewpoint of the current rather urgent international relations and geopolitics, such an attempt would help to enhance China’s compatibility with the current western-dominated world order, reduce misinformation between China and other countries, and lay the cultural and ideological groundwork for various other international collaborations. Considering the current state of Chinese nationalism research and the mass participatory nature of cybernationalism, this dissertation focuses on cybernationalism in the following three parts. The first is a study of the historical origins of Chinese cybernationalism. This section includes both an exploration of the social consensus in ancient China and a survey of the influence of nationalism in modern Chinese history. The historical origins study not only shows us the chronological sequence of experiencing the development and evolution of both proto-nationalism and nationalism in China, but also reveals a decisive impetus for the current claims and behaviors of cybernationalism. The second part deals with the process of formation and rise of cybernationalism since the 21st century. The important background for the move from nationalism to cybernationalism is the informatization process of Chinese society. After we have completed the study of the basic situation of Chinese Internet society, especially the study of social media as a public space, we can link the Internet with nationalism and examine the new development of nationalism in the era of mass participation. The ultimate goal is to connect the proto-nationalism, nationalism, cybernationalism, and furtherly construct an understanding of cybernationalism that is consistent with both the universal principles of nationalism and the Chinese context. Finally, we validate the results derived from the previous study through social reality, i.e., by studying the cyberactivism practices of cybernationalism to judge its general sufficiency as well as validity. We will conduct several natural language processing case studies based on big data to reproduce the behavioral logic and actual impact of cyberactivism in the closest possible way to the Internet reality while avoiding the unilateral argumentation and under-representation flaws of traditional case studies

Customer engagement through gamification marketing in China: a focus on the luxury market.

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Employees on social media: A multi-spokespeople model of CSR communication

Increasing societal and stakeholder expectations, along with easy access to information through social media, means corporations are asked for more information. The traditional approach to CSR communication, with corporations controlling what and how much to share with stakeholders has been restructured by social media, with stakeholders taking control. As legitimacy on social media is created through the positive and negative judgements of stakeholders, corporations must plan how to meet stakeholder demands for information effectively and legitimately, and this includes choosing appropriate spokespeople. Corporations in India have now turned towards their employees as CSR spokespeople. By encouraging employee activity on social media, these corporations are attempting to meet stakeholder demands and generate legitimacy through spokespeople whom stakeholders perceive as equals. This article examines that strategy and discusses its viability of using employees as spokespeople for CSR communication and engagement with stakeholder

'Sustainability' of what, for whom? Unfolding China's sustainability transitions and green modernisation

Today, we face two widespread crises: the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. Tackling these twin threats requires extensive cooperation and system change. The crisis is also a catalyst for reforms toward more 'sustainable' futures. However, most discussion of transiting to a more sustainable future is theoretical or niche-based. Moreover, the consensus has not been reached on many fundamental transition questions such as what is the future after transition, how we transit, and is the proposed transition desirable for everyone. Many studies also end up by underscoring the need for collective actions to tackle complex, dynamic and diverse socio-ecological challenges in sustainability transition. To fill the gaps outlined above, this research aims to focus on China, the pioneer of practising sustainability transition and uncover the structural changes during sustainability transitions. This research asked 'What sustainability is China building? And whom do China's sustainability transitions benefit?' To answer these questions, this thesis by compilation followed the grounded theory to examine China's sustainability from international-national scale, regional scale to local scale. At the international-national scale, this research assesses the integration and interplay of sustainability transitions in China's national development strategies and discusses how do sustainability transitions support China's global ambitions. On an international platform, China's eco-development and eco-civilisation logics help China take more and increasingly prominent roles in UN sustainability councils and other global environmental and developmental organisations. At the national level, China values natural resources based on its nation-state and party's interests. By over-emphasising a shared bright future or great mission, the task of solving individual problems and concerns of specific groups is overlooked. At a regional scale, this research examines China's adjustments and changes in policy in coordinating regional development and transitions. In China, radical policy reform triggered by external perturbations and shocks is competing with incremental policy change through policy-oriented learning. An "double-mountain" theory has been proposed by Xi Jinping since 2005 and has become the dominant strategy instructing China's sustainable development plans. Empirical research was undertaken at the local scale discovering the outcomes and effects of sustainability transitions on local people. China's logic of sustainability transitions has unified complicated relations and interactions among different groups in a society under a single set of all-encompassing terms and principles. By overlooking social differentiation, the Chinese Communist Party can avoid solving tricky problems. In China, sustainability transitions are integral to nation-state stability and party legitimacy rather than a sustainable development of a broad community as envisioned by many other sustainability agendas, such as the sustainable development goals. China's case reminds us that the broader the concepts of sustainability transitions are, the more space powerful stakeholders have to manipulate development to favour their demands. However, there do not have to be negative consequences from sustainable development transitions. Politicisation and pluralisation of sustainability transitions could diminish perverse outcomes and unlock positive social outcomes. The key to sustainable development is not co-developing humans and nature because this has happened for millions of years. To live more sustainably, we need to first figure out how humans can live longer, better and happier without depriving everyone's inalienable rights to own life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Sustainability transitions should be human-centred and the management of competing values among actors in transitions should be decided through a just and transparent approach

Book of short Abstracts of the 11th International Symposium on Digital Earth

The Booklet is a collection of accepted short abstracts of the ISDE11 Symposium

THE IMPLICATIONS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR CHINESE WOMEN: A CULTURAL STUDY OF THE CHINESE ERA OF REFORMS

Abstract This dissertation addresses the gendered implications of science and technology in the era of reforms. It argues that in this era, which began in 1978 and continues today, science and technology are highly romanticized as nearly omnipotent. This results in its being embedded not only into ordinary Chinese people’s lives, hoping to bring them positive changes, but also into the Chinese government’s political practices, hoping to achieve its political purposes through science and technology. It also points out that in the era of reforms, Chinese women’s lived experiences are full of tensions, struggles, and conflicts, as evidenced by the expectations for them to become virtuous wives, caring mothers, and, at the same time, successful professionals. The veneration of science and technology in Chinese culture and the Chinese government’s strict control over science and technology further complicate Chinese women’s experiences. To illustrate these points, I mainly use the analytical methods “articulation” and “mapping” from cultural studies to explore the impacts of Chinese myth, Confucianism and Daoism, Chinese language, Chinese political practices, and media and popular discourses to explain the status of science and technology and the living situation of Chinese women in the era of reforms. I analyze the cases of the development and use of science and technology: to promote marriage and family, for population control and family design, to promote the discourse of the super mother, and to help women gain independence and fight against sexual violence. I focus on the gendered implications of some specific scientific and technological artifacts, including dating websites, in vitro fertilization (IVF), breast pumps, social media, and many others. This dissertation contributes to understanding Chinese women and science and technology in contemporary China. It reveals that although Chinese women’s living situations have improved significantly, many of them are still trapped and subordinated. Science and technology, which are always articulated with other elements, especially the Chinese government’s politics, the traditional patriarchal culture, and many Chinese women’s demands for gender equality, aggravate many women’s suffering while also offering some of them extra job opportunities and access to virtual spaces to engage in social activism

Tourism in contemporary cities. Proceedings of the International Tourism Studies Association Conference: University of Greenwich, London, UK 17–19 August 2016 Conference Proceedings

The 6th International Tourism Studies Association (ITSA) Biennial conference was held at the University of Greenwich, London, England from 17‐19 August 2016. This was the first time that the conference had been held in Europe and it provided a unique opportunity to meet, hear from and network with tourism scholars and professionals from across Europe, Asia, Australasia, and North and South America. ITSA has a mission to encourage interaction and cooperation between developing and developed countries and the conference was successful in attracting 130 delegates from 29 countries. The main theme of the conference was 'Tourism in Contemporary Cities' with four conference sub‐themes of ‘Tourism Cities and Urban Tourism’, ‘The Chinese Market for European Tourism’, ‘River, Cruise and Maritime Tourism’, and ‘Heritage Tourism in Cities’, The subthemes were chosen to reflect the unique location of the conference on the UNESCO Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, and London which is Europe’s most visited tourist destination. The conference also presented ‘Dark Tourism and Cities’ and ‘Tourism and Communist Heritage’ as special sessions

Religion and Nationalism in Chinese Societies

Religion and Nationalism in Chinese Societies explores the interaction between religion and nationalism in the Chinese societies of mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. On the one hand, state policies toward religions in these societies are deciphered and their implications for religious freedom and regional stability are evaluated. On the other hand, Chinese Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, Islam and folk religions are respectively analyzed in terms of their theological, organizational and political responses to the nationalist modernity projects of these states. What is new in this book on Religion and Nationalism in Chinese Societies is that the Chinese state has strengthened its control over religion to an unprecedented level. In particular, the Chinese state has almost completed its construction of a state religion called Chinese Patriotism. But at the same time, what is also new is the emergence of democratic civil religions in these Chinese societies

Driving brand growth in the chinese beauty industry through licensing agreements: L'Oréal and the Armani case study

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