‘Politically indifferent’ nationalists? Chinese youth negotiating political identity in the internet age

Abstract

This article explores why apparent political indifference coincides with nationalist passion in Chinese cyberspace. Drawing on interviews with university students and the notion of ‘new politics’, this article argues that online nationalism constitutes an important extension of the political being in the Chinese context, or a form of ‘new politics’ among contemporary youth in certain societies. The ‘dual’ political identity emerging from Chinese youth’s uses of the internet is reflective of, and reinforces, their offline self. Both their apparent lack of interest in engaging with the government and their strong nationalism are products of the same changing subjectivities in post-Mao China.