The Power of the Internet in China: Citizen Activism Online

Guobin Yang
Columbia University Press
2009
ISBN: 978-0231144209
Chapter 8: Transnational Activism Online Page 185

The final dynamic of online activism I will analyze is transnationalism. Many cases in my sample have a transnational dimension. In some, domestic activists reach out to international actors for support; in others, their targets are foreign states or corporations; in still other cases, international non-state actors seek to influence domestic politics through direct or indirect pressure. I consider activism as transnational when it involves non-state actors reaching across national borders in contentious activities. (1) The actors so engaged will be called transnational activists. Such activism is not new, yet its combination with the internet is new, resulting in transnational online activism.

To move to transnational activism in Chinese cyberspace is to enter a new world of online activism. Here are found all the forms of online activism I have analyzed in previous chapters. But there are new elements too. Some of the most radical and subversive cases and issues of Chinese online activism have a transnational dimension. If the degree of radicalization is measured by the degree of direct challenges against the Chinese state, then the radicalization of Chinese online activism appears to be in direct proportion to transnationalization. The more transnational it is, the more radical it becomes. This chapter maps the varieties of transnational activism online and estimates the impact of transnationalization on online activism in China. It shows that transnationalization both expands and intensifies online activism, creating shifts in scale and intensity. I will differentiate between two types of transnational activism. One originates from inside China, the other from outside. Geopolitics largely explains the differences between these two types. In general, activism originating from outside China is more radical [p.186] and subversive of state legitimacy than activism inside China. Yet within each type, there are more or less radical forms. These differences are due to the mixture of several additional conditions, the most important being the personal and organizational characteristics of the activists.

The actors involved in transnational online activism fall into three types - domestic, diasporic, and international. Domestic transnational activists operate inside China, but attempt to reach outside to enhance their influence. Diasporic activists are ethnic Chinese residing overseas. They attempt to influence domestic politics from the outside, as do international non-state actors such as NGOs. These three groups are engaged in somewhat different (though overlapping) forms of online activism, reflecting their different agendas, resources, and geopolitical positions. I begin with a review of the historical conditions of transnational activism in China.

(1). This definition is built on Tarrow’s work. For Tarrow, transnational contention is “conflicts that link transnational activists to one another, to states, and to international institutions.” He defines transnational activists as “people and groups who are rooted in specific national contexts, but who engage in contentious political activities that involve them in transnational networks of contacts and conflicts.” Tarrow, The New Transnational Activism, 25, 29. I emphasize nonstate actors because when state actors are involved, it becomes international politics.

Copyright 2009 Guobin Yang