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THE COMMUNICATION HAVE-NOTS—Understanding communication control and “counter-publics” in contemporary China

Liu, Jun LU (2013) International Communication Association's annual conference 2013
Abstract
This paper takes a new perspective on power and dominance in contemporary China by focusing on the Party-state’s control over communication. By looking at “counter-publics,” the voiceless in the Chinese public sphere, this paper investigates how the Party-state strengthens its controls over freedom of expression; deprives people of means of expression, interaction, and communication; and excludes or marginalizes their voices from the public sphere. It identifies three types of counter-publics—proactive counter-public, reactive counter-public, and potential counter-public—suffering from suppression of communication by the Party-state. As the discussion unfolds, furthermore, the control over communication has played a major role in ensuring... (More)
This paper takes a new perspective on power and dominance in contemporary China by focusing on the Party-state’s control over communication. By looking at “counter-publics,” the voiceless in the Chinese public sphere, this paper investigates how the Party-state strengthens its controls over freedom of expression; deprives people of means of expression, interaction, and communication; and excludes or marginalizes their voices from the public sphere. It identifies three types of counter-publics—proactive counter-public, reactive counter-public, and potential counter-public—suffering from suppression of communication by the Party-state. As the discussion unfolds, furthermore, the control over communication has played a major role in ensuring regime resilience and solidifying the Party-state’s legitimacy. This paper therefore proposes the term “the communication have-nots” to describe the dominated, calling for more attention to struggles concerning communication, or specifically, means of communication and rights to communication in contemporary China. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
published
subject
conference name
International Communication Association's annual conference 2013
conference dates
2013-06-17 - 2013-06-23
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8f82c700-56b1-4cda-af54-dac7aa944333 (old id 3768455)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 14:03:37
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:18:02
@misc{8f82c700-56b1-4cda-af54-dac7aa944333,
  abstract     = {{This paper takes a new perspective on power and dominance in contemporary China by focusing on the Party-state’s control over communication. By looking at “counter-publics,” the voiceless in the Chinese public sphere, this paper investigates how the Party-state strengthens its controls over freedom of expression; deprives people of means of expression, interaction, and communication; and excludes or marginalizes their voices from the public sphere. It identifies three types of counter-publics—proactive counter-public, reactive counter-public, and potential counter-public—suffering from suppression of communication by the Party-state. As the discussion unfolds, furthermore, the control over communication has played a major role in ensuring regime resilience and solidifying the Party-state’s legitimacy. This paper therefore proposes the term “the communication have-nots” to describe the dominated, calling for more attention to struggles concerning communication, or specifically, means of communication and rights to communication in contemporary China.}},
  author       = {{Liu, Jun}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  title        = {{THE COMMUNICATION HAVE-NOTS—Understanding communication control and “counter-publics” in contemporary China}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}