Research Topic

Networked Young Chinese: a discourse analysis of nationalism in contemporary China

Ronggang’s research concerns the rise of youth nationalism in contemporary China. He explores how young Chinese construct and enact their political subjectivity in relation to the nationalist discourses on social media. His research is inspired by the online nationalist movements, in particular those related to the issue of youth participation. The project focuses on the comparative analysis of two Chinese youth groups, the fangirl community and 'the Industry Party'. The former is mainly composed of female pop fans, and the latter is a male-dominated group of techno-advocated nationalists. Both of the two groups featuring the gender aspect involve in the Chinese nationalist movements and construct narratives of Chinese nationalism. The project adopts online observation and in-depth interviews as the main methods of data collection. The project aims at unearthing the insight understanding of the political enthusiasm of China’s younger generation.

Ronggang’s PhD research is supported by the LSE PhD Studentship.

Supervisors: Dr Bingchun Meng and Professor Shakuntala Banaji

Biography

Ronggang completed a Master of Arts (Research) (2016) in Gender and Cultural Studies at the School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry of the University of Sydney. He also holds a bachelor’s degree (2014) in Chinese Linguistic and Literature at Tongji University. Ronggang worked as an Analyst (2916-2018) at Kaifeng Foundation, a private foundation based in Tsinghua University with global operations. Ronggang is also a columnist and staff writer for Chinese and English media including Sixth Tone, Initium Media, The Paper, NetEase, Wenhui Daily and the Beijing News.