Life

1
Life Death in the Chinese Informational
City The Challenge of Working-Class ICTs the
Information Have-Less
JQ 4/24/2007 Makati
2
Introduction
3
General Approach
The informatization of society

• Above beyond past emphasis on the state or the
  market.
• About the urban underclass

Life death

• Not just happy forever stories, but the harsh
  reality of a large industrializing society.
• The most severe consequential social problems
  expressed through ICTs.
• Openings for social change.

4
Key Concepts
The informational city

• Informationalism
• A new (post-industrial) spatial logic
• (Dis)connectivity ? dual city

The Chinese informational city (CIC)

• Uniqueness Working-class ICTs the info
  have-less
• A techno-social emergence amidst
  industrialization, urbanization, globalization
• Universality one step toward more general theory
  about the informational city of Asia of the
  developing world

5
Methods

• Archive research
• Fieldwork
• Secondary data analysis
• Examination of online forums
• Interviews (cybercafe owners, journalists)

Goals

• Synthesis
• Analysis
• Raising questions

6
The rise of working-class ICTs in
China, 1999-2006 (year-end data)
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From Access to Appropriation
Social innovation
Informational needs
The urban condition of contemporary China

• Urbanization, industrialization globalization
• Welfare reforms (housing, educ, healthcare, etc)
• Heightened stress on working-class neighborhoods,
  families, individuals

The informal economy

• The lower strata of the CIC The city underneath

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The city underneath Handset vendors
Shenzhen, Jan 05
9
The city underneath Fake-ID-ad graffiti
Shenzhen, Jan 05
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Place-Making in CIC
Structural inequality
Social problems
Urban discrimination

• Against migrants
• Against the underclass
• Institutional socio-cultural

Power domination contestation

• State authorities, especially police
• Online cultures subcultures, especially among
  youth

11
The Cases
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Lanjisu The Fury of the Abandoned
Renminbao.com
230am June 16, 2002
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Lanjisu The Fury of the Abandoned
Link-e.cc
Xinhuanet.com
Photocdn.sohu.com
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Lanjisu The Fury of the Abandoned

• Consequences
• 25 killed, 13 injured, 6 jailed.
• Version 1
• Illegal operation of black cybercafe kills.
• Crackdown on cafes is needed.

• Version 2
• Draconian regulation severe crackdown led to
  the tragedy
• Roots of problem Angry youth, broken families,
  poor community services failure of schools,
  including universities

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Sun Zhigang Perished in Jail
Southcn.com
March 17, 2003
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Sun Zhigang Perished in Jail

• Consequences
• 3 killed, 11 jailed, 15 censured.
• Version 1
• Suns death leads to better treatment of
  migrants.
• It shows the power of online opinions.

• Version 2
• The role of tongxiang (same-origin) networks
• Mobile phone abuse
• Roots of problem Institutional discri-mination,
  tension within migrant strata, poor human rights
  condition.

17
Ma Jiajue Another Robin Hood?
Off-roader.com.cn
February, 2004
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Ma Jiajue Another Robin Hood?
Photoedn.shohu.com
June 17, 2004
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Ma Jiajue Another Robin Hood?

• Consequences
• 5 killed, a number of others detained.
• Version 1
• Ma was a sadist murderer, who abused ICTs.
• The case helped improve equality on university
  campuses.

• Version 2
• ICTs were essential to the hunt-down.
• Online Fans club supporting Ma.
• Roots of problem Extreme poverty, social
  isolation, anomie the industrialization of
  education.

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Reflections
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Old Ghosts

• Inequality in urban life ? Systemic suppression ?
  Resistance ? Violence ? Death
• Social transformation affects the lower strata
  particularly hard.
• Internal divisions hurt the underclass.
• Youth are the most susceptible the most
  vulnerable.
• Technologies, including working-class ICTs, are
  used to maintain the status quo, even resulting
  in social regression.

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New Spirit

• Urban underclass may have less info, resources
  privileges, but not less power, for they have no
  more to lose. Hence, new openings for change in
  CIC.
• Institutional change policy responses in urban
  control education systems.
• Grassroots change self-organization among
  have-less service providers end-users.
• New basis for cultural expression.
• The rare but important bridging effect between
  the info have-less the elite.

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END
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Source CNNIC