Internet Entre ETat Parti et Societe Civile En Chine (the Internet between the Party State and Civil Society in China)

Wenjing Guo, Internet entre Etat parti et societe civile en Chine (The Internet between the Party State and Civil Society in China) Paris, L'Harmattan, 2015, 329 pp.Wenjing Guo belongs to the so called post 1980 generation, that of young Internet users on whom she focused a PhD thesis in socio anthropology defended in October 2014: Internet a Canton (Chine) Dynamiques sociales et politiques (Internet in Guangzhou, China: Social and Political Dynamics) University of Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, and upon which this work is based.The book is composed of two parts, one mainly devoted on the Internet in China (1994 2014) and the other to Internet usage based on three case studies undertaken in Guangzhou: a group of homosexuals formed around a "model mother" whose blog brought together thousands of Internet users, a residents' group mobilised against the construction of a waste incinerator, and an association of Internet users defending Cantonese language and culture: the tangible and intangible heritage of the city and the province. These two parts contain valuable methodological considerations. An overly short six page conclusion follows.Part 1 offers a synthesis of existing work and traces the Internet's evolution in China between 1994 and 2008, the latter year marking the passage from a regime marked by the government's sole responsibility for control to a governance logic by which entrepreneurs and Internet users are vested with responsibility for observing the norms laid down by the Party state. This new governance also sought to ensure the participation of cadres and Party officials through the creation of blogs, in order to paint a benevolent image of the leadership. It took shape in the context of the "Harmonious Society" slogan put forward in 2002, evolving by 2008 towards the elaboration of a social reform. Like some other cities, Guangzhou constituted a pioneering laboratory where the notion of gongyi (public interest, public welfare) entails the commitment of ordinary people in resolving social problems. But 2008 also marked a turning point in the hardening of Internet censorship because of the rapid spread of news about incidents and mobilisations linked to ethnic confrontations (Tibet and Xinjiang) farmers' protests, or even major scandals "bean curd schools," contaminated milk powder..The period between 2009 and 2014, the subject of the author's synthesis, saw the emergence of the incubator Yi Fu, founded in 2006 and analysed as an exemplary case of the market's insertion into social matters, largely borrowing from global models of venture philanthropy and corporate social responsibility. It led to a logic that, choosing among local grass roots initiatives, brings "acceptable" ones into a process of institutionalisation via fiscalisation and professionalisation through performance. Both Internet users and "social organisations" were asked by the government to take part in managing society online and offline.Part 2 of the book focuses on the subsequent 2010 2012 period, looking at three groups of Internet users, "ordinary" actors belonging mainly to the post 1980 generation, invested in social and political relations reconstituted on the terrain of activism, both before and during the institutionalisation of struggles. A socio anthropological approach guides the author's analysis here."Mama Shang" lies at the root of the first group studied. In 2008, the mother of a homosexual created a blog, a space for global communication that helped numerous homosexuals and lesbians to act individually and/or collectively. Then came the founding of PFLAG (Federation of Parents, Friends and Families of Lesbians and Gays) which, finding no acceptance in the existing framework of legitimate social organisations, joined associations engaged in anti AIDS campaigns that enjoyed the backing of the government and international funding. In 2012, there was a robust debate between the mother and the co founder, who enlarged the battlefronts over discrimination against homosexuals to include the right to marriage and made contact with similar causes linked to gender issues such as the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) network.