China's Post-Socialist Governmentality and the Garlic Chives Meme

Economic Sovereignty and Biopolitical Subjects

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2353097
AutoresL Pang (0000-0001-5363-5411, Chinese University of Hong Kong, autor de correspondencia)
Año2022
Volumen39
Número1
Páginas81-100
Fecha de publicación2022-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaTheory Culture & Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0263-2764 • E-ISSN: 1460-3616
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/02632764211024347
OpenAlexW3192970649
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas15
Referencias citadas11

This article analyzes a popular meme that has spread rapidly among Chinese internet users in the last few years, 'garlic chives' ( jiucai), as a self-mockery of the bio-economic subject in contemporary China. This metaphor refers to those ordinary Chinese people who are constantly lured to participate in all kinds of economic activities, but whose investments are destined to be consumed by the establishment. Through a close study of this popular meme and the social conditions from which it arises, this article demonstrates two main features of the Chinese economic subject that supports the state's economic sovereignty: the thriving of self-sufficient and rule-abiding individuals, and the quality of these individuals as hard working and capable of producing wealth on their own. This article offers a critique of PRC's post-socialist governmentality, and it provides insights about the relation between the biological and the political in our complicated world order

Biopower · China · Governmentality · Metaphor · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Social science · Sociology · Sovereignty · State (computer science · Subject (documents · Thriving · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Law · Philosophy