The Discipline of Happiness: The Foucauldian Use of the “Positive Energy” Discourse in China’s Ideological Works

One important question about ideological works in China concerns the tension between mobilisation (encouraging public expression) and control (limiting public expression). Recently Xi Jinping’s administration has doubled down on both strategies. To study the rationale of this seemingly self-contradi...

Celý popis

Uložené v:
Podrobná bibliografia
Vydané v:Journal of current Chinese affairs Ročník 48; číslo 2; s. 201 - 225
Hlavní autori: Chen, Zifeng, Wang, Clyde Yicheng
Médium: Journal Article
Jazyk:English
Vydavateľské údaje: London, England SAGE Publications 01.08.2019
Sage Publications Ltd
SAGE Publishing
Predmet:
Discourse analysis
Energy
Ethnography
Happiness
Ideology
Internet
Mobilization
Persuasion
Popular culture
Power structure
Public administration
China
propaganda
popular culture
China
Foucault
ISSN:1868-1026, 1868-4874, 0341-6631
On-line prístup:Získať plný text
Tagy: Pridať tag
Žiadne tagy, Buďte prvý, kto otaguje tento záznam!
Popis
Shrnutí:One important question about ideological works in China concerns the tension between mobilisation (encouraging public expression) and control (limiting public expression). Recently Xi Jinping’s administration has doubled down on both strategies. To study the rationale of this seemingly self-contradictory move, the authors examine the recently prominent ideological discourse of “positive energy.” Through a combination of online ethnography and discourse analysis using Foucauldian methods, we find that the discourse borrows and evolves from previous ideological works, but most importantly and distinguishably features a more dispersive, rather than centralised power structure. It penetrates popular culture and private lives, and by doing so disciplines people’s subjectivities, rather than only aiming at top-down persuasion or control. The logic of “positive energy” produces self-disciplined docile subjects, and quietly resolves the tension between mobilisation and control by having subjects internalise the interests of the state as their own good.
Bibliografia:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:1868-1026
1868-4874
0341-6631
DOI:10.1177/1868102619899409