Call for Submissions: Special Issue on "Political Contestation in Chinese Digital Spaces"

Call for Submissions

Political Contestation in Chinese Digital Spaces

Special Issue for China Information guest edited by Guobin Yang

Two decades after China was connected to the internet, more than half of the Chinese population is online. The internet and other digital communication technologies have become a crucial component of Chinese life. Chinese digital spaces have expanded to encompass a vast array of technological and cultural forms. They have also become an arena of intense contention and contestation among multiple forces.

Who are the main actors in these digital contestations? What divides or unites them? What actions and interactions preoccupy them? What are their changing strategies and tactics? How do these contestations shape Chinese digital spaces? What is produced and reproduced in these contestations? How do they influence political expression and participation?

Examining these questions will not only illuminate the politics of the internet, but also the changing forms of power, identity, and political expression in Chinese society more broadly. On the twentieth anniversary of the birth of a public Chinese internet, China Information will dedicate a special issue to these questions. We invite submissions of original research articles from scholars in diverse academic fields. Papers should critically engage one or more of the following topics:

Types of digital contestants, their mutual perceptions, conflicts and alignments:

-governmental and non-governmental entities

-business firms in public relations, marketing, and advertising

-web sites, internet firms, and ICT industries

-netizens, online opinion leaders, online communities (e.g. hackers)

-international media institutions and corporations

-international inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations

Civil and uncivil practices and strategies of contestation:

- ideological contention (eg. the new left and liberals) in cyber communities
- cyber dissent and online activism
- forms of discrimination and prejudices (e.g. racism and sexism)

- politics of purification and contamination online
- cyber attacks and counter-attacks

- forms of deception and masking (invisible online advertising)
- database and software as technologies of surveillance 
- changing forms of control (wumao, government on Weibo, etc)

- symbolism, narratives, and rhetoric in digital contestation

Submission instructions

China Information is a long-standing, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the publication of timely and in-depth analyses of major developments in contemporary China and overseas Chinese communities in the areas of politics, economics, law, ecology, culture, and society, including literature and the arts. More information about the journal can be found at: http://cin.sagepub.com

This special issue will be guest edited by Guobin Yang. Please contact the Guest Editor at: gyang@asc.upenn.edu

Those who are interested to take part in the special issue should send an abstract to the Guest Editor before 1 October 2012. The full manuscript should be ready before 1 July 2013. All submissions will be reviewed anonymously. The special issue is scheduled for publication in 2014.