Series | Studi e ricerche
Edited book | Proceedings of the XV East Asia Net Research Workshop
Chapter | Fooling the World or Fooling Itself: China’s Spectacular-Oneiric Society
Fooling the World or Fooling Itself: China’s Spectacular-Oneiric Society
An Intervention from a Critical Chinese Studies Perspective
Abstract
Since the ’90s, China’s economic power has grown massively, and with it the authorities’ desire to control and craft its global image. Yet, despite policed Internet and surveillance of its citizens, contestation of the authorities’ control has come from social, ecological and cultural activists. Since the start of the century, China has staged the Olympics, had a Chinese woman win the Miss World competition, and claims to wage a ‘war on terror’. A spectacle of a peaceful, harmonious and ‘normal’ country – a ‘China dream’ – is projected. This article seeks to apprehend the reality behind the dream and to show how China's current condition is the result of a historical domination by, but also voluntary engagement with, the ‘West’.
Submitted: Jan. 23, 2017 | Accepted: Feb. 1, 2017 | Published Dec. 19, 2017 | Language: en
Keywords Postcolonial • China • Modernity • Globalization • Science • Spectacular society • Technology
Copyright © 2017 Gregory Lee. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.14277/6969-190-4/SR-12-6
