Popular Threats and Nationalistic Propaganda: Political Logic of China’s Patriotic Campaign

Space as the ideological state apparatus (ISA): the invisible fetter on social movements in China

“…Moreover, some visitors interpreted the action as blind worship of western culture or disrupting the accepted norms of peaceful public activities in public spaces. Taken together, such interpretations reflect the outcomes envisioned in the PDCP's (1994) document on public spaces as tools for patriotic education inculcating the current harmonious conditions are the result of CCP governance while the past pain and trauma of the Chinese people were the result of the West (Liu and Ma, 2018;Wang, 2008). Our interview findings suggest that in authoritarian contexts, the exercise of spatial agency by activists in public spaces that have been co-opted as ISAs is severely constrained by the inconspicuous ideological manipulation in that space, interpellating anyone who enters that space as a subject of its ideology.…”

“…Our study site Baiyun Square is a public activity space inside Baiyun Mountain, which is known as the 'Number One Great Scenery' located in the central area of Baiyun District, Guangzhou. A time-honored attraction, Baiyun Mountain was once home to many historic heroes and events, but the attraction's main focus later shifted to rebuild the legitimacy of CCP after the 1989 Tiananmen crisis to foster loyalty to the party through the building of monuments and other patriotic facilities as part of the so-called 'Patriotic Education Campaign' (Liu and Ma, 2018;Wang, 2008;Zhao, 1998b).…”

“…As for the content of patriotic education, the main themes are twofold: (1) national pride, which usually relates to prevailing national myths that emphasize glorious moments and great achievements of China; and (2) strong humiliated emotions associated with trauma of the past (Liu and Ma, 2018;Wang, 2008).…”

The Impact of Educational Content on Anti-Immigrant Attitudes

“…First, educational content can influence not only preferences about the government (Cantoni et al, 2017), but also foreign cultures and people. My study provides more empirical evidence of the role of education in promoting nationalism (Liu and Ma, 2018). Second, the role of education in instilling certain values can be generalized to any country.…”

“…Nationalism is the social practice of identifying oneself with a nation-state and adhering to national symbolic boundaries (Bonikowski and DiMaggio, 2016). Existing research explores how political entrepreneurs strategically use narratives to create a sense of national identity and encourage attachment to a collective identity in order to secure and legitimize their power (Paglayan, 2021;Liu and Ma, 2018;Wimmer, 2013;Anderson, 2006;Weber, 1976).…”