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chenchenzhang.net
Chenchen Zhang 🤦🏻‍♀️
@chenchenzhang.net
8.7K followers 350 following 1.8K posts
migrant & researcher interested in politics and other things. based @durham.ac.uk
currently: digital narratives, postcolonial nationalism, the global right, China stuff. neurodiversity-affirming parenting. she/her. 不必等待炬火.

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Chenchen Zhang 🤦🏻‍♀️ @chenchenzhang.net · 6d
in this interview for TNI's State of Power report, I take a look at China and/in the global politics of the far right, convergence and mismatch, civilizationism and digital culture, and visions for transnational solidarity.
www.tni.org/en/article/m...
@tninstitute.bsky.social
Mirror and Mismatch | Transnational Institute
The far-right label is not easily applied in China, but nevertheless there is a rising tide of xenophobia, militaristic nationalism, racism, anti-feminism, and social conservatism in Chinese online di...
www.tni.org
Reposted by Chenchen Zhang 🤦🏻‍♀️
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
ICE has now spent over half a BILLION dollars just on purchasing warehouses around the country to convert into detention camps.

If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ICE to begin detaining immigrants inside Social Circle warehouse in April
Homeland Security plans to build warehouse detention facilities in other cities being met with opposition.
www.ajc.com
February 9, 2026 at 5:56 PM
chenchenzhang.net
I came across this article on the debate about whether China is socialist/capitalist and whether it's imperialist among the Chinese left. The author themselves argues for capitalist & imperialist, but they lay out different views in great detail.
chenchenzhang.net/2026/02/07/r...
Repost: Debate on the nature of Chinese society among the Chinese left
Editor note: I came across this article, first published in 2017, on the debate around that time over whether China is socialist or capitalist, and whether it’s imperialist, among the Chinese…
chenchenzhang.net
February 8, 2026 at 8:09 AM
chenchenzhang.net
bluesky is supposed to be nicer. but here we go, random person calls me "layers of dirty/filthy" (wordplay on my name) for no reason at all. seriously why do people do that.
Screenshot. A bluesky user says: what do you expect from 层层脏. Replying to a comment on an article I shared.
February 8, 2026 at 7:51 AM
chenchenzhang.net
river Wear in the summer vs now 😮
it's been raining every single day in 2026. it's true.
Alt text: Riverside building with a terrace and people sitting outside, beside a row of wooden boats moored along the water. Alt text: Riverside buildings with outdoor seating and steps partially submerged by floodwater
February 7, 2026 at 9:44 PM
chenchenzhang.net
banning protests is futile, but banning nationalist symbols is another level of absurdity and hypocrisy for an event that literally raises three national flags after every final
funny how the International Olympic Committee bans "political" protest/expression to "protect the neutrality of the sport" when the whole games are organized around the nation-state & nationalism, the biggest political ideology in modernity.
February 6, 2026 at 8:22 PM
chenchenzhang.net
I had the same thought earlier: critical IR in my field is all about China as discursive object and I'm very tired of it

But, I have this focus
bsky.app/profile/chen...
chenchenzhang.net Chenchen Zhang 🤦🏻‍♀️ @chenchenzhang.net · 4d
solidarity means not mistaking geopolitical opposition for decolonization

inspired by the works of @linsantu.bsky.social @shadimokhtari.bsky.social and others

read the full interview here on China and the global politics of the far right www.tni.org/en/article/m...
think it’s essential to build global alliances that better integrate Chinese perspectives. The starting point would be listening to and building alliances with grassroots organisations from within China and in the diaspora. As I have said, there are many creative forms of resistance to authoritarian and conservative nationalism within China and among the diaspora. The Western left space is not particularly used to hearing voices that are critical of both Western imperialism and non-Western authoritarianism, as well as drawing linkages between them. Sometimes, the concern about racism and not wanting to encourage imperialist foreign policies leads to an unwillingness to engage with criticisms of the Chinese state, including those from Chinese nationals and from minoritised groups in China. Yao Lin conceptualises this as what he calls ‘interregimatic missolidarisation’. By this he means an ostensibly supportive relationship that does not really correspond to struggles against injustice or oppression within a different regime. This is not only due to cultural or linguistic distance, but also because of the ways in which different structures give rise to different forms of injustice, creating both experiential and discursive barriers to transnational solidarity.38 Our conversations with diaspora Chinese organisers engaged in anti-racist, queer, feminist, and decolonial work reflect this. Their lived experiences are often exoticised or dismissed by ‘mainstream’ civil society, and they find it easier to connect with or be understood by other immigrant groups. This also brings to mind Shadi Mokhatari’s critique of the ‘uncritical anti-imperialist solidarities’ and the victimhood politics of the ‘anti-imperialist-branding states’. Here again, allegedly anti-imperialist actors mis-solidarise with the oppressor, conflate the state with citizens at large, as well as essentialist notions of culture, and disregard the agency of the oppressed.39 This vision of the so-called ‘multipolar civilizational order’ bears a disturbing resemblance to that of the European far right, where racial-civilisational categories are defined in terms of ontological and epistemological difference and ‘indigenous’ civilisational identity is placed in opposition to the ‘globalist’ order.41 For me, then, solidarity requires calling out this misplaced equation of geopolitical opposition with decolonisation or emancipation. It requires listening to and understanding the lived experiences of activists from across the Global South who are organising against authoritarianism and imperialism. Historically speaking, and in the aftermath of 1989, overseas Chinese pro-democracy politics tended to be aligned with the right in Europe and the US. But this is changing. Younger diaspora groups are now looking for new languages and imaginaries, creating decentralised spaces of resistance and solidarity. They are already building transnational alliances against the far right in many ways. What remains is for established left-wing movements to recognise, engage with, and support these emergent transnational practices.
February 6, 2026 at 6:22 AM
chenchenzhang.net
oh this is timely
Sinophobic Sinophilia www.nplusonemag.com/issue-52/the...
Sinophobic Sinophilia | The Editors
In the contemporary Chinese context, the idea that crucial parts of the central government could simply cease to operate for more than a month, as part of a procedural standoff between rival governing...
www.nplusonemag.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:19 PM
chenchenzhang.net
a new level of Sinofantasy on X
Post 1 (by Giokielicious): “Translation of the Chinese comment: Revolution begins with yourself. An egg broken from the outside is food; broken from the inside, it’s new life.” (Embedded screenshot of a post by Nostra, House of Gold saying “Help us China,” with a reply in Chinese text.) Post 2 (by I Deserve it All 🇨🇦): “I wish our education system here turned us into poets like that” Post 3 (by Evi): “If your schools made it mandatory to study thousands of poems and ancient texts starting in preschool, maybe. Say what you like about China but I’ve never seen another country value culture as much as they do”
February 5, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Chenchen Zhang 🤦🏻‍♀️
liamstanley.bsky.social
I've written an essay on the politics of neurodiversity, drawing on the vital books by @drrobertchapman.bsky.social and @dr-nicky.bsky.social. I hope it will serve as a primer for anyone new to the topic (and maybe prompt questions for those who know it well)

journals.lwbooks.co.uk/newformation...
February 5, 2026 at 9:27 AM
Reposted by Chenchen Zhang 🤦🏻‍♀️
alexip718.com
INBOX: Washington Post Ukraine Correspondent Lizzie Johnson announces that she has been laid off in the middle of a below-freezing war zone without power, heat, or running water.
lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · 49m I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I'm devastated. Quote lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · Jan 25 Waking up without power, heat, or running water. (Again.) But the work here in Kyiv continues. Warming up in the car, writing in pencil — pen ink freezes — by headlamp.
February 4, 2026 at 5:11 PM
chenchenzhang.net
solidarity means not mistaking geopolitical opposition for decolonization

inspired by the works of @linsantu.bsky.social @shadimokhtari.bsky.social and others

read the full interview here on China and the global politics of the far right www.tni.org/en/article/m...
think it’s essential to build global alliances that better integrate Chinese perspectives. The starting point would be listening to and building alliances with grassroots organisations from within China and in the diaspora. As I have said, there are many creative forms of resistance to authoritarian and conservative nationalism within China and among the diaspora. The Western left space is not particularly used to hearing voices that are critical of both Western imperialism and non-Western authoritarianism, as well as drawing linkages between them. Sometimes, the concern about racism and not wanting to encourage imperialist foreign policies leads to an unwillingness to engage with criticisms of the Chinese state, including those from Chinese nationals and from minoritised groups in China. Yao Lin conceptualises this as what he calls ‘interregimatic missolidarisation’. By this he means an ostensibly supportive relationship that does not really correspond to struggles against injustice or oppression within a different regime. This is not only due to cultural or linguistic distance, but also because of the ways in which different structures give rise to different forms of injustice, creating both experiential and discursive barriers to transnational solidarity.38 Our conversations with diaspora Chinese organisers engaged in anti-racist, queer, feminist, and decolonial work reflect this. Their lived experiences are often exoticised or dismissed by ‘mainstream’ civil society, and they find it easier to connect with or be understood by other immigrant groups. This also brings to mind Shadi Mokhatari’s critique of the ‘uncritical anti-imperialist solidarities’ and the victimhood politics of the ‘anti-imperialist-branding states’. Here again, allegedly anti-imperialist actors mis-solidarise with the oppressor, conflate the state with citizens at large, as well as essentialist notions of culture, and disregard the agency of the oppressed.39 This vision of the so-called ‘multipolar civilizational order’ bears a disturbing resemblance to that of the European far right, where racial-civilisational categories are defined in terms of ontological and epistemological difference and ‘indigenous’ civilisational identity is placed in opposition to the ‘globalist’ order.41 For me, then, solidarity requires calling out this misplaced equation of geopolitical opposition with decolonisation or emancipation. It requires listening to and understanding the lived experiences of activists from across the Global South who are organising against authoritarianism and imperialism. Historically speaking, and in the aftermath of 1989, overseas Chinese pro-democracy politics tended to be aligned with the right in Europe and the US. But this is changing. Younger diaspora groups are now looking for new languages and imaginaries, creating decentralised spaces of resistance and solidarity. They are already building transnational alliances against the far right in many ways. What remains is for established left-wing movements to recognise, engage with, and support these emergent transnational practices.
February 5, 2026 at 10:34 AM
chenchenzhang.net
interesting list. Nietzsche and Voegelin are featured but not Schmitt. for this class I suppose there isn't much focus on international politics.
nateo.bsky.social Nate O @nateo.bsky.social · 4d
Update on Bari Weiss University

If I worked for any reputable organisation, I'd flag the use of '88' in any messaging, since it's an infamous neo-Nazi bullhorn, especially if your first reading list for 'Origins of 21st Century Right-Wing Thought' (w/ selections from Nick Land and Curtis Yarvin?)
88 Texts Our Students Are Reading Plus: Yeonmi Park is speaking on campus this Thursday. UNIVERSITY OF AUSTIN FEB 2 After the End of History: Origins of 21st Century Right-Wing Thought, Professor Michael Shellenberger A Conflict of Visions, Thomas Sowell The Case Against the Sexual Revolution, Louise Perry Manliness, Harvey Mansfield The Conscience of a Conservative, Barry M. Goldwater Left, Right, and Center, Frank S. Meyer Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race in America – Essays on Identity and Social Justice, Shelby Steele Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties, Christopher Caldwell I Am Dynamite!: A Life of Friedrich Nietzsche, Sue Prideaux Genealogy of Morals, Friedrich Nietzsche Why Liberalism Failed, Patrick Deneen The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom, James Burnham The New Science of Politics, Eric Voegelin My Life Among Deathworks: Illustrations of the Aesthetics of Authority, Philip Rieff Return of the Strong Gods: Nationalism, Populism, and the Future of the West, R.R. Reno The Knife Went In: Real Life Murderers and Our Culture, Theodor Dalrymple The Dark Enlightenment, Nick Land Plus, select articles: “The Great Feminization,” Helen Andrews “On Being Conservative,” Michael Oakeshott “Our Mission Statement,” William F. Buckley “Conservatives and Neoconservatives,” Adam Wolfson “The Idea of Conservatism,” Russell Kirk “A Brief Explanation of the Cathedral,” Curtis Yarvin “Principles of the Deep Right,” Curtis Yarvin “Gnostic Politics,” R.R. Reno
February 5, 2026 at 8:59 AM
chenchenzhang.net
people also engage with it ironically to criticise precarity in China. why juxtapose them? Propaganda workers have good reasons to juxtapose the trends to arrive at the usual point of "troubled US, ascending China". but analytically I would position them in rather different digital economies.
February 4, 2026 at 1:09 PM
chenchenzhang.net
hardly anything to do with China the country (not as a referent object) and not immediately political (unless in the sense of everything is political). the second is state-backed, thoroughly political, part of the long-standing script of "American misery" in Chinese nationalism.
February 4, 2026 at 1:09 PM
chenchenzhang.net
saw analysts juxtapose the "Chinese time of my life" trend in the US with the "killer line" trend in China. for me, the first belongs to what I have called the proliferation of digital racial talk. it's short-form lifestyle aesthetics that can be easily memed,
February 4, 2026 at 1:09 PM
chenchenzhang.net
very excited to be hosting this talk!
@shadimokhtari.bsky.social
cawpbisa.bsky.social BISA Critical Alternatives for World Politics Working Group @cawpbisa.bsky.social · 5d
📢📢We are very excited to announce our first virtual seminar as a BISA working group! 📢📢

Join us for this excellent talk with
Dr Shadi Mokhtari on her current book project examining the human rights politics surrounding Iran’s 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement.
February 4, 2026 at 12:33 PM
chenchenzhang.net
“But I would like to ask you, when did recognising rights become something radical? When did empathy become something exceptional?”
also amazing that he made the speech in English, perhaps with the intention to show the world what sensible migration policy could look like
February 4, 2026 at 10:01 AM
chenchenzhang.net
“Half a million people we live with every day, at the market, on the bus, at our children’s school. People who care for our parents, work in the fields, who have built, hand in hand with us, the progress of our country”.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Spanish PM defends plans to regularise half a million undocumented migrants
Responding to critics of policy, Pedro Sánchez says Spain is choosing path of ‘dignity, community and justice’
www.theguardian.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:59 AM
chenchenzhang.net
why do people continue to follow my completely dormant X account....
X screenshot showing "Adam Tooze and 4 others followed you"
February 3, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Chenchen Zhang 🤦🏻‍♀️
tninstitute.bsky.social
🚨 LAUNCHING 🚨 State of Power 2026 🚨

Fascism and the far right are on the rise. Beyond headlines, we examine the reasons for their rise, the economic interests that support them, how they weaponise today’s social and ecological crises, and proposals for how to fight back.
www.tni.org/en/publicati...
February 3, 2026 at 12:16 PM
chenchenzhang.net
you can download the full report featuring a series of wonderful essays here
www.tni.org/en/publicati...
Fascism | Transnational Institute
Fascism and the far right are on the rise. TNI’s 14th State of Power report looks behind the news headlines at the underlying reasons for their rise, the economic interests that support them, the ways...
www.tni.org
February 3, 2026 at 2:27 PM
chenchenzhang.net
in this interview for TNI's State of Power report, I take a look at China and/in the global politics of the far right, convergence and mismatch, civilizationism and digital culture, and visions for transnational solidarity.
www.tni.org/en/article/m...
@tninstitute.bsky.social
Mirror and Mismatch | Transnational Institute
The far-right label is not easily applied in China, but nevertheless there is a rising tide of xenophobia, militaristic nationalism, racism, anti-feminism, and social conservatism in Chinese online di...
www.tni.org
February 3, 2026 at 12:16 PM
Reposted by Chenchen Zhang 🤦🏻‍♀️
durhamchina.bsky.social
We are delighted to be hosting a talk by Dr Jingyu Mao on the emotional politics of inequality in contemporary China:
📅 Thursday 19 February 2026
🕔 14:00 - 15:30
📍 CB-0020 (Confluence Building)
This talk draws on my book Intimacy as a Lens to explore the emotional experiences of being an ethnic performer in Southwest China, and how performers’ emotions reveal the broader politics of inequality in contemporary China. By situating these micro-level emotional experiences within the broader emotional regime at the societal level, this talk reveals how the emotions of ethnic performers offer valuable lenses for understanding the politics of inequality related to ethnicity, the rural-urban divide, and gender in contemporary China. Speaker: Jingyu Mao is Lecturer of Sociology at The University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on migration and work, ethnicity and gender, emotions and intimacy, and the politics of care. She is the author of Intimacy as a Lens on Work and Migration (Bristol University Press, 2024). She is the co-author of two forthcoming books about the welfare and labour struggles of migrant workers in China and Vietnam
February 2, 2026 at 9:37 AM
chenchenzhang.net
"A society upheld by firm dualities and where unlimited industrial progress is taken for granted, but which demand ignorance of climate change and the global inequality and oppressional structures sustaining it". sounds very much in line with gongyedang
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Far-right fossil fuel ignorance: the nostalgia of national-industrial modernity
Far-right climate change obstruction has been widely noticed in the scholarly literature, and both material and ideational factors have been recognised as playing a part in climate policy backlash....
www.tandfonline.com
February 1, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by Chenchen Zhang 🤦🏻‍♀️
nateschenkkan.bsky.social
I think the discussion at the end here about the relationship to global capitalism is important. Whichever term we pick (neo-feudal or neo-royal), we need to consider contemporary authoritarianism as enmeshed with and facilitated by the existing global economic order, rather than threatened by it
January 27, 2026 at 4:10 PM