Description
Is it possible to use the social science toolkit developed in the West to explain social change in the East? In Online Politics in India and China, Ralph Schroeder seeks to understand not only the online political dynamics of India and China but also the social theory underlying it. Schroeder compares these two countries with other parts of the world, and especially the US. He examines populism, the role of social media in elections, and how social movements mobilize online--all questions currently at the top of the research agenda. Specific cases are used to illustrate online political mobilization, including feminism and gender politics, climate change activism, and anti-globalism. Schroeder also considers internet regulation, Aadhaar and the social credit system, and the current geopolitics of artificial intelligence. The digital transformations of politics in India and China, he argues, can not only help to understand how theories of social change and the role of media apply beyond the West, but also shed light on two rapidly growing countries now set to become major players on the world's geopolitical stage.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: Social Theory and the Lens of Online Politics2. Beyond East and West: The Spectre of Comparisons3. The Politics of Citizenship Rights: The Public Arena and Legitimacy4. Comparing Media Systems: Media Systems, Old and New5. Online Contention: Populism and Anti-Globalism6. Online Contention: Climate Change and Feminism7. The Geopolitics of Platforms8. Artificial Intelligence and Knowable Citizens9. Conclusion: East and West Through the Two-Way Mirror
