SOCIAL MEDIA AND CONTENTIOUS ACTION IN CHINA

This chapter offers a critical overview of the evolving field of social media activism in China. It discusses the contextual factors that have shaped the field of contentious action in the country, followed by an analysis of the diverse patterns of social media activism in China. The chapter examines the important dynamics and particular socio-cultural traits pertaining to social media activism in relation to contentious action from inception to mobilization to actualization. The fertile ground for popular contention has transitioned China into a ‘contentious authoritarianism’ in which ‘a strong authoritarian regime accommodates widespread and routinized collective protests’. Social media thrives almost exclusively on mass users, and its culture and technological implementation shift the dynamics of information production and consumption to favour the users. Social media activates relations of catnets, and has transformed ways to communicate, organize and coordinate collective action.