The Other Digital China

Drawing on firsthand experience and rich data, The Other Digital China reveals a vast gray zone of nonconfrontational activism for social change. This mundane activism is propelled by social media and practiced by NGOs, entrepreneurs, state actors, programmers, and ordinary citizens. Written in spirited prose, this important book brings provocative new perspectives into the debates on digital politics and society. -- Guobin Yang, University of Pennsylvania A very important book. Jing Wangs exploration of how certain kinds of NGOs are using Chinas hyperactive media tools to engage in novel forms of social action for good is extremely innovative and provides wonderfully rich empirical descriptions of contemporary social life. Everyone who cares about politics and media systems in China should be paying attention to what Wang calls Activism 2.0. -- Judith B. Farquhar, University of Chicago This book offers a unique and timely perspective on social media and civil society in China. The author builds on her own experiences to show how the use of digital technologies has given rise to new forms of civic engagements. Jing Wang provides ample examples of how the post-1980s and post-1990s generations are drawn to the culture of tech4good and social media for social good thanks to the affordances of new technologies. -- Marina Svensson, Lund University Offers a way forward for those in Chinaand perhaps elsewherewho want to make progress within a totalitarian stateTruly thought provoking in a way that few books are. -- Kentaro Toyama * China Review International * [Those] wishing to understand and participate in future social change in China will find this book an invaluable roadmap. -- Jacob Pagano * Critical Inquiry * A timely documentation of the rapidly changing world of Chinese civic life aided by the social media. -- Dan Chen * Journal of Chinese Political Science *

Jing Wang (19502021) was Professor of Chinese Media and Cultural Studies, S. C. Fang Professor of Chinese Language and Culture, and Director of the New Media Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She received fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Studies, the National Humanities Center, and the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation, and was a recipient of the Overseas Distinguished Professor Award given by Chinas Ministry of Education. She was the Founder and Secretary General of NGO2.0, a nonprofit in China specializing in technology-driven and social mediapowered activism, and was the author of Brand New China: Advertising, Media, and Commercial Culture; The Story of Stone; and High Culture Fever: Politics, Aesthetics, and Ideology in Dengs China.