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This book examines the role played by the media in China’s cultural transformation in the early years of the 21st century. In contrast to the traditional view that sees the Chinese media as nothing more than a tool of communist propaganda, it demonstrates that the media is integral to China’s changing culture in the age of globalization, whilst also being part and parcel of the State and its project of re-imagining national identity that is essential to the post-socialist reform agenda. It describes how the Party-state can effectively use media events to pull social, cultural and political resources and forces together in the name of national rejuvenation. However, it also illustrates ho...
Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2015 Sex in China introduces readers to some of the dramatic shifts that have taken place in Chinese sexual behaviours and attitudes, and public discussions of sex, since the 1980s. The book explores what it means to talk about sex in present-day China, where sex and sexuality are more and more visible in everyday life. Elaine Jeffreys and Haiqing Yu situate Chinas changing sexual culture, and how it is governed, in the socio-political history of the Peoples Republic of China. They demonstrate that Chinese governmental authorities and policies do not set out strictly to repress sex; they also create spaces for the emergence of new sexual subjects and sub...
China’s Digital Presence in the Asia-Pacific explores China’s digital presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Drawing on political economy of the media, industry analysis, platform studies and cultural policy studies, the book shows that China’s commercial digital platforms are increasingly recognized outside China and can disseminate Chinese culture more effectively than government supported media. It illustrates how these platforms are contributing to Chinese cultural influence, their perceived reputation and obstacles in the region while pursuing a combined approach of culture+, industry+, internet+, and platform+. In considering the multi-layered rise of the China argument, the book c...
As China navigates the murky waters of a "third way" with liberal economic policies under a strict political regime, the surprising battleground for China's future emerges in the country's highest rated television network--China Central Television, or CCTV. With 16 internationally broadcast channels and over 1.2 billion viewers, CCTV is a powerhouse in conveying Chinese news and entertainment. The hybrid nature of the network has also transformed it into an unexpected site of discourse in a country that has little official space for negotiation. While CCTV programming is state sponsored--and censored--the popularity and profit of the station are determined by the people. And as the Chinese C...
The Chinese internet is driving change across all facets of social life, and scholars have grown mindful that online and offline spaces have become interdependent and inseparable dimensions of social, political, economic, and cultural activity. This book showcases the richness and diversity of Chinese cyberspaces, conceptualizing online and offline China as separate but inter-connected spaces in which a wide array of people and groups act and interact under the gaze of a seemingly monolithic authoritarian state. The cyberspaces comprising "online China" are understood as spaces for interaction and negotiation that influence "offline China". The book argues that these spaces allow their users greater "freedoms" despite ubiquitous control and surveillance by the state authorities. The book is a sequel to the editors’ earlier work, Online Society in China: Creating, Celebrating and Instrumentalising the Online Carnival (Routledge, 2011).
This book examines the use and culture of digital media in Chinese cities. By examining examples and data from Chinese and global social media platforms, the book argues that digital media facilitate Chinese people’s sense of local self and local identity. In doing so, the book moves on from the polarised debate regarding the democratic function of Chinese internet to instead examine the connection between digital technologies and the country’s history, culture and eventually, people and their everyday lives. It offers a rich analysis of a Chinese city in the digital age, and challenges the nationalistic approach to study China’s digital media culture.
This timely volume offers a mapping of the Internet as it has developed and been used internationally. It is the first book to provide a range of perspectives on the international Internet and to explore the implications of such new knowledge.
An international roster of contributors come together in this comprehensive volume to examine the complex interactions between mobile media technologies and issues of place. Balancing philosophical reflection with empirical analysis, this book examines the specific contexts in which place and mobile technologies come into focus, intersect, and interact. Given the far-reaching impact of contemporary mobile technology use – and given the lasting importance of the concept and experiences of place – this book will appeal to a wide range of scholars in media and cultural studies, sociology, and philosophy of technology.
Exploring the remarkable story of China’s rise to global prominence, China since 1949 provides a concise yet comprehensive overview of the events that have shaped the country since the middle of the twentieth century. Covering the Maoist era through the Reform period to the present day, this book addresses subjects such as China’s position as a world economic power, the Chinese Communist Party’s treatment of ethnic minorities, women’s experiences under the Communist regime, and China’s human rights record. Fully updated throughout, the third edition includes: a new chapter focusing on China since 2010 discussion of current issues such as China’s territorial disputes, computer hac...
In late 1995, the drama Heaven Above (Cangtian zaishang) debuted on Chinese TV. Featuring a villainous high-ranking government official, it was the first in a series of wildly popular corruption dramas that riveted the nation. Staging Corruption looks at the rise, fall, and reincarnation of corruption dramas and the ways in which they express the collective dreams and nightmares of China in the market-reform era. It also considers how these dramas - as products of the interplay between television stations, production companies, media regulation, and political censorship - unveil complicated relationships between power, media, and society. This book will be essential reading for those following China's ongoing struggles with the highly volatile socio-political issue of corruption.