Urban mobilizations and new media in contemporary China

Popular protests are on the rise in China. However, since protesters rely on existing channels of participation and on patronage by elite backers, the state has been able to stymie attempts to generalize resistance and no large scale political movements have significantly challenged party rule. Yet the Chinese state is not monolithic. Decentralization has increased the power of local authorities, creating space for policy innovations and opening up the political opportunity structure. Popular protest in China - particularly in urban realm- not only benefits from the political fragmentation of the state, but also from the political communications revolution. The question of how and to what extent the internet can be used for mobilizing popular resistance in China is hotly debated. The government, virtual social organizations, and individual netizens both cooperate and compete with each other on the web. New media both increases the scope of the mobilizers and the mobilized (thereby creating new social capital), and provides the government with new means of social control (thereby limiting the political impact of the growing social capital). This volume is the first of its kind to assess the ways new media influence the mobilization of popular resistance and its possible effects in China today.-- Preface; -- Introduction, Daniel Kübler, Hanspeter Kriesi and Lisheng Dong; -- Chinese online publics: who seeks political information online?, Daniela Stockmann; -- Online public opinion in China: topics and dynamics of contention in online forums, Xiaokun Wu; -- Internet and mobilization in China’s urban environmental protests, Bingqiang Ren, Huisheng Shou and Lisheng Dong; -- Turning points in an authoritarian context: state-leader interactions in environmental protests in China, Jean Lin; -- The role of social media in environmental protest in China, Simona Grano; -- New media, emerging middle class and environmental health movement in China, Xiaoling Zhang and Gareth Shaw; -- Voice of the masses: the internet and responsive authoritarianism in China, Cole Carnesecca; -- Cooptation and protest leadership during industrial restructuring in China, Xi Chen; -- Community mobilization and policy advocacy in urban China: the role of weak administrative organization, Chunrong Liu; -- Conclusion, Hanspeter Kriesi, Daniel Kübler and Lisheng Dong; -- Inde