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Erschienen in: Journal of Chinese Political Science 4/2013

01.12.2013 | Research Article

Bringing a Network Perspective to Chinese Internet Studies: An Exploratory Analysis

verfasst von: Yu-Wen Chen

Erschienen in: Journal of Chinese Political Science | Ausgabe 4/2013

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Abstract

This paper adopts a network perspective to explore the ways digitally-mediated relationships prompt social and/or political participation in China. In the “chicken game scenario”, my analysis suggests that collective actions are facilitated by both weak and strong ties, which generate a fairly unified collective identity that is conductive to high-risk mobilization. In the “public crisis scenario”, it is generally weak ties that facilitate relatively lower-risk mobilization. In the “compromise scenario”, if collective actions do occur, they are generally low-risk and non-political. This appears to be largely due to the dominance of weak ties in the compromise scenario. The “banal scenario” is a black box that has yet to be sufficiently investigated in the future.

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Fußnoten
1
[16] paper is an exception. A theoretical framework was well-constructed before empirical test.
 
2
The strength and character of an interpersonal tie can be measured by a number of indicators, such as the “amount of time”, the “frequency of exchanges”, and the “emotional intensity”. [14:1361].
 
3
In reality, there is a wider range of entrants and authority along a spectrum from weak type to strong type. For the purposes of conceptual expediency, I have used a dichotomous approach here, discerning actors into strictly weak or strong.
 
4
While ideal-type scenarios are important for identifying the predominant interaction patterns between the authority and the individual, these interaction patterns are subject to change during the process as the “types” of authority and individuals change. During a public crisis, for instance, we often observe changes in the choices of both players, thereby altering their types. In many crises involving the public good, the state is at first a strong player interacting with a number of strong entrants, all wishing to reveal the truth of the crisis. So at first glance, it appears that a chicken game scenario is brewing. But, in the example used, the Chinese state turned from strong to weak during the interaction because it recognized that by fulfilling public expectations and managing the actual crisis, it would fare better than by denying the problem or suppressing the entrants [6]. Throughout its transformation into a weak player, the state randomized its strategies. The authorities made certain concessions to pacify public discontent, while at the same time, continued to exercise censorship on citizens of their choosing to deter large numbers of people from following, or movements from forming.
 
5
The author has communicated with an anonymous senior member of the Administrative Planning Forum (later renamed Map Forum) throughout 2012. The interviewee used to be the head of a number of sub-forums of the Map Forum. He currently has VIP status allowing him to participate in a closed sub-forum where all sub-forum heads interact online and discuss sensitive issues, including tactics for handling the government crackdown. The interviewee provided internal memos of its members from 2008 to 2010 for this research. For more information on the Map Forum, see URL: http://​bbs.​xzqh.​info/​ (in Chinese).
 
6
Email correspondence with an anonymous Falun Gong practitioner and observer based in Washington D.C. on November 9th, 2012.
 
7
There are two webmasters in the Map Forum.
 
8
Ibid. There are a number of sub-forums under the Map Forum, such as those focusing on administrative planning and mapping in the North, East, South, and West of China. There is also a sub-forum on Taiwan, and another on administrative planning and mapping elsewhere in the world.
 
9
I wish to thank David O’Brien for sharing his knowledge with me. David O’Brien has interviewed a number of people who were at the 2009 riot.
 
10
Interview conducted via Skype on October 21st, 2012.
 
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Metadaten
Titel
Bringing a Network Perspective to Chinese Internet Studies: An Exploratory Analysis
verfasst von
Yu-Wen Chen
Publikationsdatum
01.12.2013
Verlag
Springer Netherlands
Erschienen in
Journal of Chinese Political Science / Ausgabe 4/2013
Print ISSN: 1080-6954
Elektronische ISSN: 1874-6357
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-013-9260-4

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