The politics of Pai Ma Pi: flattery as empty signifiers and social control in a Chinese workplace

Abstract

This article analyzes the practice of pai ma pi in a Chinese workplace in order to examine the recent transformation of subject formation and the political economy in China. Pai ma pi refers to any benevolent practice a subordinate directs toward his or her superiors to seek favor, protection, or other benefits. More than flattery or brownnosing, pai ma pi in a socialist workplace serves as an empty signifier; workers use it to combat the void created by their uncertainty about their position in relation to the disproportionate power of the all-encompassing, autocratic system, a power crystallized in the need for workers to maintain a clean record in their classified dang'an (personal dossier) to survive. However, the gradual breakdown of the socialist work unit system caused by neoliberal economic restructuring appears to diminish the practice of pai ma pi. The article, nevertheless, illustrates that pai ma pi both nurtures and challenges the neoliberal economy. As a strategic form of praise, pai ma pi, by aggrandizing higher-ups, intensifies the social hierarchy, and bureaucratic authority; meanwhile, it advances self-interest, which resonates with some of the neoliberal pillars in China, such as “freedom” and “self-enterprising.”