China's Contested Internet

edited by Guobin Yang

Is there a pre-Weibo and post-Weibo era in Chinese Internet history? Are hackerspaces in China the same as in the West? How can the censorship of an Internet novel end up “producing” it? How is Lu Xun’s passive and ignorant spectator turned into an activist on the Internet? What are the multiple ways of being political online? These and many other intriguing questions are the subject of this captivating new book. Its ten chapters combine first-hand research with multi-disciplinary perspectives to offer original insights on the fast-changing landscape of the Chinese Internet. Other topics studied include online political consultation, ethnic identity and racial contestation in cyberspace, and the Southern Weekly protest in 2013. In addition, the editor’s introduction highlights the importance of understanding the depth of people’s experiences and institutional practices with a historical sensibility.

"this group of papers samples an exciting new generation of research on the Internet in China that focuses less on critical content and mobilisation repertoires and instead digs deeper (as highlighted by Yang) into the fabric of the Internet and Internet uses, with original methods and fieldwork." - Séverine Arsène, China Perspectives 2016/3

Guobin Yang is Associate Professor of Communication and Sociology at the Annenberg School for Communication and Department of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of The Power of the Internet in China: Citizen Activism Online (2009).

Publication year: 2015
322 pp / 229mm x 152mm
4 figures, 4 tables
ISBN: 978-87-7694-176-5, Paperback
ISBN: 978-87-7694-175-8, Hardback

NIAS Press