Conditions,Processes And Consequences Of Internet Activism In China

This study aims to explain and interpret conditions, processes and consequences of Internet activism in China over the 2003-2014 period, and in particular, to investigate the role of social media in Internet activism. By considering social media as field for symbolic power contest, and Internet activism as practice within the field, this study takes a diachronic perspective and methods of historical analysis, content analysis, discourse analysis and framing analysis to explore the following questions:what are the various conditions that make possible of Internet activism in China and how are their historical changes shape the political opportunities, mobilization structure and discursive opportunities of Internet activism; how do diverse actors unfold symbolic power contest by framing construction, discursive practices and meaning contest; what are the political, social psychological and cultural consequences of Internet activism in China over the period. In this sense, this study intends to provide insights into the mutual shaping relationship between new media practices and social change.The results of the study reveal that historically social change of transitional China is the pre-structural condition of Internet activism in China. The major conditions that shape the mobilization process of Chinese Internet activism are:(1) The increase of political opportunities brought by historical evolution of Chinese Internet policy and rule change of social media field; (2) The online social network which constitutes mobilization structure of Internet activism; (3) The discursive opportunities based on strategic use of interest claims, history and culture, and emotional symbolic resources by diverse actors. Therefore, social media is not the decisive independent variable that causes Internet activism, rather the action field where Internet activism unfolds. In turn, social media is the mediated field between the above conditions and Internet activism. The rule and structure of social media field may influence the political opportunities of Internet activism, shape the online social network for mobilization and diffusion of online contentions, as well as provide numerous symbolic resources and discursive opportunities for diverse actors. The process of Internet activism is the process of struggling for symbolic capital and symbolic power between various actors. This research identifies four actor roles in Internet activism:advocate, participant, active spectator and counter-actor, and in turn explores how they employ framing construction and discursive practice to contest over legitimacy and how repertoires of their contention evolve along with the transformation of social media platforms. This study also indicates that, in the over ten-year’s development of Internet activism in China, various actors did not form consensus about China’s past, present and future, rather catalyzed opinion polarization and political cynicism, intensified the negative social emotions in Chinese society, and aggravated the tension between traditional and modern values. Meanwhile, the social media field has already become the public arena where diverse actors present themselves. In this sense, Internet activism in China shows more performativity over the period. In other words, actors may use symbolic resources like culture and emotion for strategic purpose of symbolic power, instead of authentic ends. However, the success of such performative actions still depends on whether other actors believe the authenticity of these actions.For theoretical contributions, by considering social media as action field and Internet activism as practice in the field, this study pioneered the idea of interpreting the mutual shaping relationship between social media and Internet activism from the perspective of "field-practice". Thus, this study bypasses the technological determinism that occupies the research area of Internet activism, and turns to social shaping perspective by considering online contentions as social practices in the context of broader social settings. In this sense, this study takes Internet activism back to the analytical framework of social actions, and in turn interprets its conditions, processes and consequences in the Chinese context. Consequently, this study explores the differences between Internet activism based on social media and the traditional social movements, provides new empirical data in the Chinese context, and discusses the theoretical implications. Last but not least, this study historically investigates the change of power relations in the transitional China via Internet activism, explores the interactive relationship between new media practices and social change, as well as provides more insights into the studies of new media communication.