From industrial movies to social media discourses: alternative social imaginaries of industry and technology in China

Abstract

The paper is concerned with how Chinese public and civil society understand the so-called socialism with Chinese characteristics, or Chinese-style modernization, in the era of post-globalization capitalism and in light of their social imaginaries of technology and industry. The authors discuss historically formed as well as newly arising social imaginaries of the importance and role of industry, science, and technology in China when formulating an alternative, non-western vision of modernization presented in public cultural forms such as movies, TV dramas, social media discussions or broadcasted public conversations. The emphasis is on the particularity of the Chinese approaches toward industry, technology, and social development, and how they are similar to or different from liberal philosophies of technology.