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Chongqing's Red Culture Campaign: Simulation and Its Social Implications Mei Xiao London and New York: Routledge, 2018 viii + 153 pp. £105.00 ISBN 978-1-138-22231-1
Mei Xiao's book, Chongqing's Red Culture Campaign: Simulation and Its Social Implications, is a timely and important analysis of the Red Culture campaign, a series of “red-themed” cultural activities joined by a great number of citizens in Chongqing between 2009 and 2012, under the leadership of Bo Xilai. Mei asks two questions regarding this phenomenon: was it a true Maoist revolutionary campaign? And how did local political power interact with the everyday lives of the participants? Using Baudrillard's theory of simulation as a key concept to frame her questions, Mei convincingly argues that the campaign “attempted a simulation of a Maoist mass campaign to enhance the legitimacy of Chongqing's leadership in his pursuit of political power” (p. 8). Her answer to the second question is that the state–citizen relationship manifested in the campaign was both “disassociative and associative” (p. 49): a high level of citizen conformity was observed, but also spaces for reinvention and creativity. The nature of the campaign as a simulation thus brought forth both a negative (time-consuming, repetitive, unenthusiastic) and a positive (construction of positive social identity, community building, self-development) influence on the everyday experience of participants.
Chapter one of the book provides context for the case study; chapter two situates the research within a web of existing theoretical debates and empirical findings; chapter three focuses...