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Introduction: Understanding the Politics of Chinese Media

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Book cover The Politics of Chinese Media

Part of the book series: China in Transformation ((CIT))

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Abstract

The introductory chapter lays out the key theoretical propositions that inform the rest of the book. It also challenges some of the conventional frameworks for analyzing media and communication in China. In addition to highlighting the continued relevance of China’s socialist history in understanding the present as well as imagining the future, I also advocate a multidimensional view of power, a broader understanding of politics and an appreciation of mediation as a dialectical process. The chapter ends with an explanation of the structure of the book.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Deng came up with this famous saying to convey a highly pragmatic approach: black cat or white cat—as long as it catches the mouse it is a good cat.

  2. 2.

    Mao identified these as the distinctions between the rural and the urban, industry and agriculture, and physical and mental labor.

  3. 3.

    A portrait of the countryside from the perspective of a daughter-in-law (一个农村儿媳眼中的乡村图景) (February 4, 2016) Retrieved from http://culture.china.com/11170626/20160204/21450058_all.html

  4. 4.

    Life in rural Jiangxi: A hometown like this, I don’t miss it at all (江西农村实景:这样的家乡,我是丝毫不眷恋的) (February 27, 2016) Retrieved from https://read01.com/RJAmjk.html

  5. 5.

    If the countryside is sinking, every one of us who has left is complicit (如果家乡沦陷,每个在外的人都是帮凶) (February 17, 2016) Retrieved from http://epaper.bjnews.com.cn/html/2016-02/17/content_623001.htm?div=0

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK

    Bingchun Meng

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  1. Bingchun Meng
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Meng, B. (2018). Introduction: Understanding the Politics of Chinese Media. In: The Politics of Chinese Media. China in Transformation. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46214-5_1

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