A must-read for China watchers, Chinese language students, and political or social scientists studying the Internet and dissidence. In Supervision From Below, Peking University scholar Sean Hutchinson attempts to answer a key question facing China in the 21st century:
To what extent does New Media (also called social media) enable Chinese citizens to successfully supervise and take action against their government?
Mr. Hutchinson examines the birth of online and mobile messaging as a tool for government oversight in China during the SARS outbreak and following the Sichuan Earthquake. He tracks the maturation of social media as a weapon of the weak, examining influential Chinese-language web posts and amateur investigative journalism that prompted viral vigilantism. Finally, Mr. Hutchinson examines how the Chinese Communist Party has coped with Internet discourse and adapted it as a pressure-release valve that allows the public to vent frustration without threatening the Party's control.
To what extent does New Media (also called social media) enable Chinese citizens to successfully supervise and take action against their government?
Mr. Hutchinson examines the birth of online and mobile messaging as a tool for government oversight in China during the SARS outbreak and following the Sichuan Earthquake. He tracks the maturation of social media as a weapon of the weak, examining influential Chinese-language web posts and amateur investigative journalism that prompted viral vigilantism. Finally, Mr. Hutchinson examines how the Chinese Communist Party has coped with Internet discourse and adapted it as a pressure-release valve that allows the public to vent frustration without threatening the Party's control.
