University of Groningen. Engaging in politics Sun, Yu

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1 University of Groningen Engaging in politics Sun, Yu IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below. Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Publication date: 2018 Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database Citation for published version (APA): Sun, Y. (2018). Engaging in politics: Everyday political talk in online China. [Groningen]: University of Groningen. Copyright Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum. Download date:

2 Engaging in politics Everyday political talk in online China Yu sun

3 Colofon Cover Design: Printing: Ridderprint BV, the Netherlands Ridderprint BV ISBN (print): Copyright 2018 Yu Sun All rights reserved. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this thesis may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, without written permission of the author or, when appropriste, of the publishers of the publications.

Engaging in Politics Everyday political talk in online China PhD thesis to obtain the degree of PhD at the University of Groningen on the authority of the Rector Magnificus Prof. E. Sterken and in accordance with the decision by the College of Deans.

4 Engaging in Politics Everyday political talk in online China PhD thesis to obtain the degree of PhD at the University of Groningen on the authority of the Rector Magnificus Prof. E. Sterken and in accordance with the decision by the College of Deans. This thesis will be defended in public on Thursday 12 July 2018 at hours by Yu Sun born on 1 July 1986 in Hebei Province, China

5 Supervisor Prof. M.J. Broersma Co-supervisor Dr. T.S. Graham Assessment Committee Prof. T.A.C. Witschge Prof. J. van der Harst Prof. R. Vliegenthart

6 To my parents 谨献给我亲爱的父母

7 Acknowledgements I travelled to Groningen from Beijing in the autumn of 2013, embarking on my PhD with a vague imagination of the PhD world. Time flies fast! Now, I am so near to the end of it. It is a relief but also makes me feel sad to say bye to my PhD! Recalling the first time meeting my supervisors, I was full of excitement, with a new world in front of me to explore, both academically and culturally. From then on, I have been experiencing the tale of two adventures, which brought me a lot of joy in the past years and also made me what I am today. For that, I would like to take the chance to express my gratitude for people who have encouraged and supported me in my PhD journey. First, I felt very honored to have two great supervisors and now it is time to say thank you to them. Prof. Marcel Broersma, both my promoter and first supervisor, said yes to my application of the PhD project and later guided me through the academic journey. During my PhD study, I benefited a lot from his historical perspectives to understand the media landscape. He often pushed me to think harder about the contextual background of Chinese society in my study of citizen interactions on the Chinese internet, based on which I found the unique meanings of my research and feel more passionate of doing research in the broad field of Chinese studies. Every time when I was lost in researching, he pulled me back on track with timely guidance. Dr. Todd Graham, my daily supervisor, also has supported me a lot in doing research. He read my writings carefully and provided me with valuable feedback. He also shared with me a lot of his experiences in academia as a senior researcher at drinks or coffee time. He gave me many tips on how to live a happy life as an overseas PhD student when I just came to the university of Groningen. I appreciate all his supervision and help! As supervisors, both of them are inspiring, nurturing, and very willing to listen to my opinions. I enjoyed all the discussions I had with them at research meetings. It was a great pleasure and joy to work together with them. I have learned a lot in terms of academic writing and making presentations. Without their careful supervision and support, I could not have grown to be a mature researcher. This will be part of the best memory of my PhD.

8 I d like to thank the assessment committee for their careful and critical examination of my manuscript. Thanks for your affirmation and compliment of my work. Also thanks for your constructive feedback, based on which I realize there is still room to improve my dissertation. In addition, I want to thank Scott Wright for providing me with valuable suggestions and comments for my methodological chapter. I also want to thank Diandian Guo, for her assistance in doing the inter-coder reliability test for my coding scheme. I am grateful to many other scholars who have discussed and commented on my work at conferences, summer or winter schools in the past years. I m very happy to have met all my colleagues at the Groningen center for media and journalism studies. Their passion for research, writing and sharing has brought me a lot of positive energy and has been encouraging me to work harder. Special thanks go to Dana, Ansgard, Michael, Marc, Robert, Rik, Frank, Ana, Elizabeth, Scott, Berber, Tamara, Huub and Garrie for their comments on my work at different stages and spiritual support. At the department, I met my best PhD friends, Stefan, Joëlle, and Amanda. It was a great pleasure to start the PhD journey at the same time with Stefan. It seems that he is doomed to be the first mover among us in exploring the PhD work, writing the TSP, the first-year evaluation, and then finishing the PhD thesis. I appreciate all the adventure experiences you shared with me. Plus, your super sense of humor and friendliness made it very joyful to share a lot of stories about Chinese culture with you. Wish you all the best! It was a great pleasure to do the PhD together with Joëlle, too. We went to workshops, summer schools and conferences together, in the Netherlands or abroad. They were wonderful experiences. I was never lonely in the PhD journey because of your accompany! As you have said, we finish our PhD and the party will be over, but friendship stays! We will keep in touch, no matter which part of the world I end up. Amanda is such an innovative person, not only because she is doing fascinating research but also because of her passion for baking. Thank you for bringing us cakes of various recipes. I was surprised with the happy birthday cake she made for me. With this innovative and productive spirit, I am sure that she will become a very successful PhD candidate (she is already!). And let me know if you are going to take part in any

9 baking program on TV or YouTube, I ll vote for you! Alisa, my best officemate. Alisa and Stefan are the first two people talking with me after meeting my supervisors. I was actually feeling a bit of cultural shock on the first day coming to the Harmonie building. Thank you, Alisa, for warmly welcoming me to our first office. She has shared with me her enthusiasm for Dutch history and literature. I learned so many wonderful stories about the Netherlands in history. I overcame my cultural shock in the end, because Dutch friends, like Alisa, have introduced me a lot about the culture, food, people, and life in the Netherlands. I m very happy to have you as my paranymph. A lot of thanks for your help in arranging my PhD ceremony and for your effort in translating the summary of my thesis to Dutch. Bin Jiang, my nerdy sister at the faculty of arts. It was a lucky coincidence to meet her here in Groningen. She has such a perfect mixture of nerdy and non-nerdy hobbies, which might be the reason why we become good friends. Over the past years, we have explored Groningen, the Netherlands and many other places in the Europe together. Bin, because of your friendship, Groningen became of a place of wonder for me. Wish you the best, no matter where we will end up in the future. At the PhD building (Rode Weeshuisstraat), I met many talented and funny orphans: Justine, Ruben, James, Martijn, Jan, Bregtje, Sanne, Sieger, Audrey, David, Jonne, Germán, Kim and quite a few more. I had a very good time, having lunch or just chatting with you guys in the building. With all of you, we made the orphanage a fancy place, which people dream of moving into. Many thanks go to my Chinese friends, who are also fellow PhDs at University of Groningen: Huanlin Lang, Linlin Li, Cong Duan, Eva Zhang, Yingying Zeng, Xingyu Yan, Qi Xu, Qian Li, Yingying Cong, Yang Heng, Boqun Liu, Lei Lv, Yingruo Wang, Miao Wang, Yanglei Yi, Haojie Cao, Yang Pu, Shasha He, Juping Hou, Ting Huang, Minghui Li, Junjie Jiao and quite a few more. I also want to thank my old BFSU classmates, Fang Zhang, Yi Pu and Xinwei Zhu who are having their PhD adventures in different countries, for your support and encouragement via Wechat. And my former teachers at BFSU who have always been keen on knowing how I am doing with the PhD project. Also PhD friends I met during

10 summer schools or conferences: Tim, Wilfred Yang Wang, Ping Sun, Yuchao Zhao, Yi Liu, Shuhan and quite a few more. Last but foremost, I d like to thank my parents whose love travels with me, no matter where I am; and my dear sisters who support me in whatever I like to do. 最后也是最重要的, 我要感谢亲爱的爸爸妈妈一直以来给予我无私的爱, 让我勇敢地追求梦想, 坚强乐观地面对挫折

11 Table of Contents 1. Introduction Everyday political talk in minjian: alternative structures of citizen interactions in China The internet and the public sphere in China Research aims, questions, and contributions Structure of the thesis Deliberative Democracy, Political Talk, and the Everyday Sphere in Minjian Deliberative democracy, the Public Sphere, and Political Talk Deliberative democracy and deliberative system The Public Sphere Everyday political talk Authoritarian deliberation and the Chinese minjian Public Deliberation and China Everyday political talk and the everyday sphere in Minjian Normative conditions for deliberation The normative conditions for the process of deliberation Beyond the framework of deliberation Everyday Political Talk in Online China Chinese internet and the deliberative public sphere The Chinese internet and civic activism The Chinese internet as a tool of authoritarian governance Advancing a new agenda Chinese internet as a hybrid sphere and everyday political talk Conclusion: everyday political talk on the complex Chinese internet Research Design and Methodology 54

12 4.1 Research Design Normative analysis Descriptive analysis Comparative analysis Cases Data Collection Keyword searches Identifying political talk Sampling Methodology Pilot Study Coding Scheme Validity and reliability Archiving, organizing, and managing the data Research ethics Environmental talk in the Chinese Green Public Sphere Introduction Chinese Internet and the Public Sphere in China Everyday Political Talk as an Agent of Change in Digital Age in China Political talk about the environment in the Chinese green sphere Methods Findings and Discussion 96 Level 1 Process of Deliberation 96 Level 2 Civic Behaviors 100 Level 3 Expression of sentiments Conclusion Informing the government or fostering public debate? Introduction The Position of the Public in Healthcare Governance The Chinese Internet and the Public Sphere 112

13 6.4 Online Spaces and Everyday Political Talk in China Research Focus and Methodology 114 Three Cases 116 Sampling 116 Content Analysis Findings 117 Level 1: Normative conditions of deliberation 118 Level 2: Other social-civic communicative practices 120 Level 3: The expression of emotions Discussion and Conclusion Complaining and sharing personal concerns as political acts Introduction Bridging the private sphere and the civic sphere Everyday Political talk in Chinese online public sphere Research focus and methodology 140 The Three Forums 141 Sampling 142 Content Analysis Findings 143 Level 1 Normative conditions of deliberation 143 Level 2 Other social-civic communicative practices 146 Level 3 Emotional expressions Discussion and Conclusion Conclusions Research findings The deliberative process Social-civic communicative practices The expression of emotions Theoretical implications Government-run online political space: authoritarian deliberation Online spaces outside of the realm of conventional politics: a transition to democratic deliberation and a new political society? 172

14 8.3 Final conclusion Limitations Societal impact 181 Bibliography 184 Nederlandse samenvatting 203 Curriculum Vitae 209

University of Groningen. A place for life or a place to live Gieling, Johannes

University of Groningen. A place for life or a place to live Gieling, Johannes University of Groningen A place for life or a place to live Gieling, Johannes IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check