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A Study of Online Citizenship Practices of Chinese Young People

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A Study of Online Citizenship Practices of Chinese Young People A Study of Online Citizenship Practices of Chinese Young People Jun Fu ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4843-9202 Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2017 Youth Research Centre, Melbourne Graduate School of Education The University of Melbourne ii Abstract This thesis is positioned at the intersection between studies of citizenship in China and studies of the Chinese internet. It complements these two bodies of scholarship by investigating young Chinese internet users’ online engagement through the lens of citizenship practice. More specifically, it looks into young Chinese internet users’ online activities to understand how they practice their citizenship online and what these practices mean to them as citizens. Thirty-one urban Chinese aged from 19 to 33 participated in the study. Online observation of participants’ social media homepages was carried out to collect data about their online activities, and internet-mediated audio interviews were conducted to explore their accounts of these activities. The results show that citizenship is practiced by participants online on two interconnected levels. The first is represented by their practice of online citizenship, defined by the norms and practices of the online community with which they engage. The second level is their practice of Chinese citizenship as it is manifest in their internet-mediated engagement with different social communities and networks. On each level, the citizenship practiced by participants can be understood in three dimensions, namely: citizenship learning, identity formation, and action for social change. Their practice of online citizenship is a process through which they learn about the norms and language practices of online communities through engagement with these communities, form their identity as online citizens by aligning their online activity to accepted online practices, and contribute to constructing an equal and tolerant online space rich in reliable information and diverse opinions. iii Participants’ Chinese citizenship was also practiced in three dimensions. First, it is practiced as a form of learning about Chinese society and their position in this society through internet-mediated social engagement. Second, their Chinese citizenship is practiced as identity performance, consisting of: 1) normalised identity performance on WeChat to consolidate identity in their physical lives, and 2) values-based performance on Weibo to form and maintain identity so as to navigate their lives in a drastically changing society. Third, their practices of Chinese citizenship are represented in their endeavours to improve Chinese society through internet-mediated social engagement. These practices are collectively shaped by three orientations of action, namely: angry youth, powerless cynics, and realistic idealists. These orientations are underpinned by the fluid and contingent subjectivity which unfolds in their engagement with the Chinese society which they experience in virtual and physical spaces. In sum, young Chinese people’s online citizenship practices illustrate a notion of citizenship that is little associated with the state. It is more of a social and cultural citizenship defined by the norms and practices of the socio-cultural communities with which they engage in their everyday lives. These norms and practices were learned through, performed in, and shaped by young people’s participation in these communities. iv Statement of authorship This is to certify that • the thesis comprises only my original work towards the PhD except where reference is made in the text; • due acknowledgment has been made in the text to all other material used; • this thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution; and • the thesis is less than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, bibliographies and appendices. Jun Fu December 2017 v Preface An earlier version of some sections from Chapter seven of this thesis has been published as follows: Fu, J. (2018). Chinese youth performing identities and navigating belonging online. Journal of Youth Studies, 21(2), 129-143. doi:10.1080/13676261.2017.1355444. vi Acknowledgments It has been a privilege to pursue answers to my questions about Chinese young people at the Youth Research Centre (YRC) in the past four years. I am grateful to all the people who have made this happen and who have accompanied me in this journey. Thanks to the University of Melbourne for granting me the scholarship to undertake this PhD project, and for providing such an amazing environment for my intellectual and academic growth. I am grateful to my supervisors Johanna and Hernan for taking me on board and guiding me with generous support and care. I benefited enormously from their very patient supervision, their detailed annotation of my work, and their correction of my English writing. I would also like to thank Professor Joseph Lobeanco and Professor Audrey Yue for being members of my advisory committee and for their intellectual input into this research. I thank all the staff and fellow PhD students at the Youth Research Centre. Your invaluable intellectual, moral, and emotional support, together with all the cakes, songs, and birthday celebrations, made the YRC a home where I could really belong in this world’s most liveable city. I would also like to express my gratitude to the 31 participants. Thanks for your generous help and utmost frankness in sharing your stories and thoughts about your online activities. Last but not least I would like to express my special thanks to my wife, Mei Wu, my parents and in-laws for their years of unconditional love and support, and to my daughter Hannah who was born in the last year of my PhD study and coped brilliantly with my unwilling absence. I dedicate this thesis to her. vii viii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................ iii Statement of authorship ................................................................... v Preface .............................................................................................. vi Acknowledgments ........................................................................... vii Table of Contents ............................................................................. ix List of Figures ................................................................................ xiv Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................... 1 Citizenship and young people .............................................................. 1 The Internet and the citizenship practice of young people .................. 5 Online citizenship practice of Chinese young people ....................... 10 The aims of the research .................................................................... 14 Methodology ...................................................................................... 17 Three dimensions of citizenship practice........................................... 18 Road map ........................................................................................... 21 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 23 Chapter 2 Review of Literature on Citizenship and Citizenship Practice ............................................................................................ 25 Introduction ........................................................................................ 25 Citizenship status and rights .............................................................. 26 From legal status to social practice .................................................... 28 Changing practices of citizenship ...................................................... 34 Online citizenship practices of young people .................................... 37 ix Expanding concepts of citizenship .................................................... 40 Citizenship and learning .................................................................... 43 Communities of practice .............................................................................. 44 Citizenship and identity ..................................................................... 46 Understanding identity ................................................................................. 47 Digital media and identity ............................................................................ 50 Citizenship and youth politics for social change ............................... 53 Bricolage ...................................................................................................... 54 Prefigurative politics .................................................................................... 56 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 57 Chapter 3 Citizenship in China ..................................................... 61 Introduction ........................................................................................ 61 Contemporary Chinese society .......................................................... 62 Young people in China ....................................................................... 65 Citizenship in China ........................................................................... 70 Citizenship practice in China ............................................................
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