Internet Activism & the Party-State in China

The history of Internet activism and Internet control in China is one of mutual adaptation between citizen activists and party authorities. The party-state initially reacted to Internet activism with alarm, but has since built a comprehensive approach combining repressive policing with gentler methods of social management. This approach has evolved in response to the diverse forms of and participants in Internet activism. But the adaptability of the Chinese Internet control regime does not mean that it will root out Internet activism. On the contrary, Internet activism will continue to grow and will itself adapt to the changing forms of control. Comparisons with Russia and the United States highlight how political economy, history, and everyday practice shape the forms of Internet activism and control

Environmental NGOs and Institutional Dynamics in China

Environmental non-governmental organizations are becoming increasingly visible players in China’s environmental politics. Adopting a field perspective, this article shows how the rise of environmental NGOs has taken place in interactions with four institutional fields. They not only respond to political conditions, but also to opportunities offered by the media, the internet, and international NGOs. In this process, organizational entrepreneurs play a crucial role in mobilizing resources while other individuals participate in search of self-fulfillment or social experience. These arguments underscore the multi-institutional dynamics of civil society development without underestimating state-centered and market-centered explanations. In conclusion, the article discusses how environmental NGOs can serve as both sites and agents of democratic social change in China

Online Activism

Online activism is a new form of popular contention in China. In some cases, the Internet serves to mobilize street protest. More often, protest takes place online. The most common forms include online petitions, the hosting of campaign websites, and large-scale verbal protests. The most radical is perhaps the hacking of websites. These forms of contention may be found in blogs, Internet bulletin boards, online communities, and podcast and YouTube-type web sites

The Co-Evolution of the Internet and Civil Society in China

Civil society and the Internet energize each other in their co-evolutionary development in China. The Internet facilitates civil society activities by offering new possibilities for citizen participation. Civil society facilitates the development of the Internet by providing the necessary social basis—citizens and citizen groups—for communication and interaction. These arguments are illustrated with an analysis of the discourse in Qiangguo Luntan [Strengthening the Nation Forum] and an ethnographic study of Huaxia Zhiqing [Chinese Educated Youth],

Narrative Agency in Hashtag Activism: The Case of #BlackLivesMatter

Hashtag activism happens when large numbers of postings appear on social media under a common hashtagged word, phrase or sentence with a social or political claim. The temporal unfolding of these mutually connected postings in networked spaces gives them a narrative form and agency. Applying Karlyn Campbell’s propositions about rhetorical agency to the case of #BlackLivesMatter, this essay shows that narrative agency in hashtag activism derives from its narrative form as well as from its contents and social context. Narrative agency is communal, invented, skillful, and protean

Lightness, Wildness, and Ambivalence: China and New Media Studies

China was linked to the internet in 1994. In 1997, there were only about 670,000 users. By June 2011, China had over 485 million internet users, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the population. The rapid diffusion of the internet has had profound influences on all aspects of Chinese life. Scholars both in China and outside have responded to these new developments by producing a large amount of research. Not surprisingly, due to the internet’s connections with broad fields of social life, scholarly research on the topic is interdisciplinary, or rather, multi-disciplinary. Anthropologists (Zhou 2006), political scientists (Zheng 2008; Zhang and Zheng 2009), communication scholars (Hu 2008; Qiu 2009), sociologists (Yang 2009) have all contributed book-length studies. Their topics range from internet use among intellectuals (Zhou 2006), migrant workers (Qiu 2009), the impact of the internet on state-society relations (Zheng 2008), internet governance and expression (Hu 2009), to online activism (Yang 2009). In addition, there are numerous journal articles and book chapters, as well as frequent international conferences

Double-Edged Rituals and the Symbolic Resources of Collective Action: Political Commemorations and the Mobilization of Protest in 1989

The year 1989 was rife with resonant political anniversaries in both Eastern Europe and China ̶ as well as being the two-hundredth anniversary of France’s first great democratic revolution. Democracy and the future of socialism were on many peoples’ minds. Communist elites hoped to use these anniversaries as opportunities to celebrate the triumphs of the last forty years, but dissidents found these anniversaries even more auspicious as occasions to condemn “really existing” socialism. As a result, popular revolts erupted from Beijing to Berlin