The Diffusion of Contention in Contemporary China: An Investigation of the 2014-2015 Wave of Teacher Strikes
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Authors
Hess, Steve
Chang, Shengping
Issue Date
2016-04-01
Type
Presentation
Language
en_US
Keywords
China , Teacher strike
Alternative Title
Abstract
The article examines a wave of teachers’ strikes that spread across China during the fall, winter and spring of 2014-2015. Looking at event data and social media coverage of the wave, it discusses how social media enabled protesters to carry out media-savvy campaigns that involved both online and offline tactics, draw inspiration from claimants in faraway protest sites, and emulate tactics, slogans and symbols from other locations. The episode indicates that claimants in contemporary China are utilizing new media to break the geographic bounds of localized protests, and while falling short of nationally coordinated protest movements, are able to generate widespread, cross-regional protest waves that place greater pressure on subnational authorities to give in to protester demands. These cross-regional protest waves present a third category of “widespread” protests in China that are distinct from parochial/localized protests and national protest movements.