"Digital Media and Chinese Aspirations in Global Capitalism"

Workshops, conferences 2018

  • Date: Feb 5, 2018
  • Time: 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Location: Janskerkhof 13, Stijlkamer, Utrecht
"Digital Media and Chinese Aspirations in Global Capitalism"
The symposium is convened on occasion of the public defence of the dissertation of Samuel Lengen, Binary Dreams: An Ethnography of the Digital Economy in China.

The symposium is convened on occasion of the public defence of the dissertation of Samuel Lengen, Binary Dreams: An Ethnography of the Digital Economy in China.

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For more details please contact vdvoffice(at)mmg.mpg.de.



In recent years, the Chinese Internet has given rise to unprecedented examples of entrepreneurial success. Most prominently, the Alibaba Group’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014 claimed the highest initial public offering in history, raising a stunning $25 billion (Noble and Bullock 2014). As the Chinese e-commerce giant’s IPO outperformed companies like Google and Amazon, China suddenly appeared to stand at the forefront of the world’s digital revolution. As evidenced by a recent New York Times headline reading “China, Not Silicon Valley, Is Cutting Edge in Mobile Tech” (Mozur 2016), news media accounts suggest that China has not only “caught up” with its Western counterparts but might have exceeded them. However, while the success of Chinese Internet companies highlights the growing significance of the Chinese Internet in the global economy, both domestic digital media and the digital economy remain under the strict supervision of the Chinese Communist Party.



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