One Life For Sale

One Life For Sale: Youth Culture, Labor Politics, & New Idealism in China X i a Z h a n g Department of Sociology & Anthropology Manhattanville C o l l e g e

Three Bodies of Literature 1. “Coming of Age in Neoliberalism” (e.g., Ong 2006; Lukacs 2010, 2013; Arai 2000, 2003, 2012; Genda 2005, Song 2007; Pun 2005; Woronov 2011, 2012)  youth employment crisis in China

Ant Tribe  Lian Si (sociologist) found that college graduates earned a monthly income $300 in Beijing (2007-­‐2009)  Around 1,000,000 “ant tribe” members in China; at least 100,000 in Beijing alone (2010)  90% outside of the major cities; 82% unprivileged background

Tangjialing, Beijing

Credit: ruby (http://goo.gl/xjlw9)

Credit: ruby (http://goo.gl/xjlw9)

Credit: ruby (http://goo.gl/xjlw9)

Credit: jiu yi xia (http://blog.sina.com/cw90)

Credit: ruby (http://goo.gl/xjlw9)

Tangjialing  Demolished Â

Source: ditu.baidu.com

What Tangjialing Looks like Today…

Living on the Roof

Source: http://www.thechinawatch.com/2013/04/ant-tribes-living-on-the-roof-in-beijing

Source: http://www.thechinawatch.com/2013/04/ant-tribes-living-on-the-roof-in-beijing

Three Bodies of Literature (1)

 How do young Chinese creatively confront the precarious employment conditions in post-­‐reform China by using new media?

Three Bodies of Literature 2. Youth and New Media Studies (e.g., Liu 2010; Yang 2003, 2005, 2009; Wallis 2011)  China’s “dual modernity” (Liu 2010)  economic liberalism v.s. political authoritarianism  Individualistic and enterprising individuals v.s. loyal subjects to the party state

 How do Chinese youth use new media to tackle labor problems and engage in social issues collectively?

Three Bodies of Literature 3. Chinese youth: “little emperors,” “angry youth” or patriotic citizens?

Volunteer Relief after Sichuan Earthquake, 2008

2008 Worldwide Olympic Torch Relay

Young Volunteers, Beijing Olympic Games, 2008

Chen Xiao’s Story

The Front Page of Chen Xiao’s Taobao Shop With The Slogans That She

creates

“Chen Xiao’s remaining life time is dedicated to those people really in need.”

“People’s time can be a commodity. It is your right to arrange Chen Xiao’s Life, and it is my obligation to serve you.”

The Front Page of Chen Xiao’s Taobao Shop Which Shows Three Time Categories

Chen Xiao’s Blog

Pictures from Chen Xiao’s Blog

Chen Xiao’s shop inspired over 1000 imitators around China. If you search Taobao.com, this is what you will find‌

Chen Xiao Phenomenon One Imitator’s “Selling Remaining Life Time” Online Shop on Taobao.com “I would rather say that this is my way of life rather than merely a different kind of start-up.” (Chen 2008)

Research Questions  Why did Chen Xiao’s story appeal to young Chinese?  How does the idea of “selling remaining life time” fit in with the young generations’ desires and dreams with respect to work and life?  What does the “Chen Xiao Phenomenon” suggest about a new generation of young Chinese workers in the era of economic restructuring and new, flexible forms of accumulation in post-­‐reform China?

Two Parts of Fieldwork  Cyberspace ethnographic fieldwork

 Ethnographic fieldwork

A Scene of Fierce Competition Among College Graduates in a Job Affair in China

Resource of the Picture: http://www.littleredbook.cn/2009/04/17/chinese-netizens-express-mixedresponses-to-college-student%E2%80%99s-job-application-for-%E2%80%9Cfull-time-housewife-to-richman%E2%80%9D/

Shengyu Rensheng  Rensheng = Life time  Shengyu = remaining + “surplus”  Surplus = valueless, unwanted, disposable

Taobao (The Search for Treasure) “Best Solution to Unemployment” “Golden Profession” “Unlimited Creative Generation”

“Giving Back”= Affective Labor + Charity Affective labor (Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri 2000)

 a form of immaterial labor – “labor that produces an immaterial good, such as a service, a cultural product, knowledge, or communication” (2000: 290).  deals with human contact and interaction.  Through affective labor, capital turns human emotions and relations into part of the production process.  Chen invest not only her emotions, but also her subjectivity —creativity, talent, intimate beliefs, personal memories, experiences, and even her imagination of an ideal life — in her service as the raw material for the extraction of surplus value, to make her clients happy  “creationist capitalism” (Tom Boellstorff 2008) super -­‐exploitation

Chen Xiao Teaching at a Rural Elementary School

Chen Xiao visiting a special education center in Beijing

“Do you know what I feel every time [I serve the people]? I am not simply a service worker….I can forget unhappiness [through such experience], face life again, and have confidence and a sense of selfworth.” (Cited from Chen Xiao’s Blog)

“Chen Xiao Controversy”  Covering business sense with benevolent acts?

 Charging money for her previously free services?

 “I think it is not important whether she is “stir-­‐frying” herself or is really helping others.

What is important is that she makes us see that it is so simple to turn the virtual into reality.”  “There is nothing wrong with her Taobao store.

After all, she is a human and needs to survive.”

Why is the socialist value of “serving the people” so highly valued in post-­‐reform China?  Moral Crisis in Post-­‐reform China

Does Chen Xiao Phenomenon suggest the comeback of socialist values and a real desire for an actual Maoist past?  No.  “People”  “consumer citizens”  Socialism  democratic consumerism

It is important for the Party state that Chen Xiao’s “giving back” takes the immaterial form of money, time, and expertise.

More embodied form of “giving back”– sweat, blood, and even life

Immaterial form of “giving back” – time, money, expertise etc.

 The form of giving that Chen Xiao displays is promoted by the Party state because it  Legitimizes the capitalization of human potential  Produces a “safe zone” that can accommodate the passions of young Chinese for charitable giving.

 The political meaning of youth is evacuaed.

The allure of “selling remaining life” lies in its capacity to reconcile…  The market economy’s ability to profit from engaging young workers’ innovation and subjectivities  The state’s desire to produce depoliticized yet self -­‐enterprising citizens  The individual workers’ desire for meaningful life and work

Does young Chinese today have a chance to claim a common ground for solidarity?

 Yes and NO.  New Idealism  Internet: Embodying an ideology of network

In summary…  “Selling one’s remaining life time” should be understood as a creative experiment adopted by young urban Chinese to confront their present precarious realities.  In attempting to make sense of their present conditions, these youth are also creating a “new idealism” – a sense of hope for their future that is inspired by the ideology of network (embodied by the Internet) but carefully channeled by the state to commercial activities and in affective labor.

Implications  How can cities like Beijing provide affordable living place to “ant tribe” members?  How can planners plan transportation system to facilitate the ant tribe members’ travel need?  The mismatch of higher education training that students receive and the demand of the labor market, and the High expectation of job prosperity.  How/Is it possible that new information technology may also offers these young people new possibilities of participation in the urban planning process?

Thank you!

Questions?