Communication & Global Power Shifts| Inside-Out and Outside-In: The Making of a Transnational Discursive Alliance

Abstract

This article explores the making of a transnational discursive alliance championing the language of freedom and aiming at bringing their particular notion of democracy to China. The analysis is based on the following four case studies: Google’s withdrawal from China in 2011, the Chinese Jasmine Revolution from 2011 up until now, the Bo Xilai Event in 2012, and the anti-censorship activism centering on the liberal Chinese newspaper, the Nanfang Weekend in early 2013. I first describe how this transnational discursive alliance came into being through these four cases, and then analyze the impact it has had on China’s public sphere and domestic politics. I conclude with a discussion of the class orientation of this alliance’s universalistic claims to democracy and constitutionalism.