Authoritarian Schizophrenia
Right wing populists have stormed the world wide web. They even have a beachhead in China. Chenchen Zhang tells us about the racism and misogyny she found on the knowledge sharing platform Zhihu. And Leta Hong Fincherexplains why patriarchal authoritarianism is central to the success of the Chinese Communist Party.
Chapter six in the new ToE Failure miniseries.
Patriarchal Authoritarianism
In 2015, the Chinese government arrested and held five young women in prison for 37 days because they were planning to pass out stickers raising awareness about sexual harassment. Leta Hong Fincher tells their story in her new book, Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China. She also explains just why the subjugation of women is necessary for the success of China’s patriarchal authoritarian regime.
Baizuo (白左) The White Left
We’ve been focusing on YouTube for most of this series, but in this episode Chenchen Zhang, a researcher based out of Brussels, gives us a tour through Zhihu, the Chinese equivalent of Quora. It’s there she finds the term Baizuo, or White Left, which roughly translates into… libtard.
She introduced the term to America with a piece she wrote for OpenDemocracy. And she helps us understand the global phenomenon of fascism’s resurgence through the eyes of China.