Unwritten Endings: Revolutionary Potential of China’s A4 Protest
The A4 or White Paper Revolution as dubbed by international media refers to a series of protests against China's draconian Zero-Covid policy that started in November 2022. Although the protests did not last long, they debunked the myth that stringent pandemic measures were widely supported by...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Bologna
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Sociologica |
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| Online Access: | https://sociologica.unibo.it/article/view/16877 |
| _version_ | 1797772888577671168 |
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| author | Kin-man Chan |
| author_facet | Kin-man Chan |
| author_sort | Kin-man Chan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The A4 or White Paper Revolution as dubbed by international media refers to a series of protests against China's draconian Zero-Covid policy that started in November 2022. Although the protests did not last long, they debunked the myth that stringent pandemic measures were widely supported by the Chinese people. Additionally, they revealed the potential for social mobilization in China, regardless of the forceful crackdown on civil society and media censorship by the regime. This paper analyzes how the protests were able to garner support from a wide spectrum of people and circumvent the structural constraints imposed by an increasingly totalitarian regime. It demonstrates that hegemony will never be complete and that resistance is possible even under a “perfect dictatorship”. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:58:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-971138713f84440ea2280031486faa99 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1971-8853 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:58:13Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | University of Bologna |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sociologica |
| spelling | doaj.art-971138713f84440ea2280031486faa992023-07-25T14:42:42ZengUniversity of BolognaSociologica1971-88532023-07-01171576610.6092/issn.1971-8853/1687715235Unwritten Endings: Revolutionary Potential of China’s A4 ProtestKin-man Chan0Department of Sociology, National Chengchi University of TaiwanThe A4 or White Paper Revolution as dubbed by international media refers to a series of protests against China's draconian Zero-Covid policy that started in November 2022. Although the protests did not last long, they debunked the myth that stringent pandemic measures were widely supported by the Chinese people. Additionally, they revealed the potential for social mobilization in China, regardless of the forceful crackdown on civil society and media censorship by the regime. This paper analyzes how the protests were able to garner support from a wide spectrum of people and circumvent the structural constraints imposed by an increasingly totalitarian regime. It demonstrates that hegemony will never be complete and that resistance is possible even under a “perfect dictatorship”.https://sociologica.unibo.it/article/view/16877covidchinaprotestyouthinternet |
| spellingShingle | Kin-man Chan Unwritten Endings: Revolutionary Potential of China’s A4 Protest Sociologica covid china protest youth internet |
| title | Unwritten Endings: Revolutionary Potential of China’s A4 Protest |
| title_full | Unwritten Endings: Revolutionary Potential of China’s A4 Protest |
| title_fullStr | Unwritten Endings: Revolutionary Potential of China’s A4 Protest |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unwritten Endings: Revolutionary Potential of China’s A4 Protest |
| title_short | Unwritten Endings: Revolutionary Potential of China’s A4 Protest |
| title_sort | unwritten endings revolutionary potential of china s a4 protest |
| topic | covid china protest youth internet |
| url | https://sociologica.unibo.it/article/view/16877 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kinmanchan unwrittenendingsrevolutionarypotentialofchinasa4protest |