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Palgrave Macmillan
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Party Ideology, Public Discourse, and Reform Governance in China

Playing the Language Game

  • Book
  • © 2021

Overview

Authors:
  1. Yayoi Kato

    1. Department of Political Science, Moravian College, Bethlehem, USA

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  • Questions the normative assumption of ideology’s legitimating function shared by many propaganda scholars
  • Argues that ideology can be a double-edged sword for political leaders
  • Explores the relationship between ideology, language, reform governance, and political power in the Chinese context

Part of the book series: Politics and Development of Contemporary China (PDCC)

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
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  2. Introduction

    • Yayoi Kato
    Pages 1-6

  3. Multiple Faces of Ideology: Definitions and Approaches

    • Yayoi Kato
    Pages 7-19

  4. Analyzing the Language Game: Conceptual Framework

    • Yayoi Kato
    Pages 21-40

  5. SOE Reform Discourse Under Jiang Zemin

    • Yayoi Kato
    Pages 41-73

  6. SOE Reform Discourse Under Xi Jinping

    • Yayoi Kato
    Pages 75-106

  7. Two Faces of Ideology: A Double-Edged Sword for Rulers

    • Yayoi Kato
    Pages 107-132

  8. Conclusion: Ideology, Language, and Political Power

    • Yayoi Kato
    Pages 133-141

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 143-153
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Keywords

About this book

This book analyzes the operational dimension of the Chinese communist party’s ideology and reveals the complex relationship between ideology, language, governance, and political power in the broader context of China’s economic reforms. The book questions state-centric, legitimacy-focused, and content-based approaches to party ideology and analyzes its practice. Conceptualizing public discourse as a ‘language game’ played by the rules set by the party, the book examines how party ideology is operationalized by multiple state and non-state actors as political rhetoric for persuasion in contentious reform discourses. Through the case studies of the policy discourses over state-owned enterprise reforms under Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Xi Jinping, the book highlights ideology’s double-edged operational functions (consensus-inducing and conflict-inducing) and claims that ideology can be a double-edged sword for rulers: It is a vital resource to legitimate and sustain their rule; yet, itpotentially destabilizes their rule as well. The book proposes new angles to study ideology, legitimacy, and governance and is aimed at political scientists who study authoritarian governance, policy process, and political communication. Its multi-disciplinary approach also appeals to sociologists, media/communication scholars, and linguists who work on rhetoric, political language, and media discourses.

Reviews

"This timely book offers valuable insights on key questions in Chinese governance, including the complex role of ideology in policy implementation, and the relationship between central decisionmakers and key state and non-state actors. Using case studies on state-owned enterprise reform under Jiang Zemin and Xi Jinping, Kato’s extensive research reveals how ideology can be used to mobilize consensus in support of reform initiatives or to obstruct such reforms by those with vested interests." (Stanley Rosen, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA)


Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Political Science, Moravian College, Bethlehem, USA

    Yayoi Kato

About the author

Yayoi Kato is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Moravian College, Pennsylvania, USA, specializing in Chinese politics. Her research focuses on ideology and propaganda work of the Communist Party of China, political rhetoric, and discourse analysis of China’s reform policy debates.

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