SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This chapter explores how Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is being developed and promoted at the grassroots of contemporary Chinese society. Two projects piloted in 2018 to propagate and disseminate Xi Jinping Thought at the county level — “New Era Civilized Practice Centers” (新时代文明实践中心) and “Integrated Media Centers” (融媒体中心) — show that the mass practices associated with Xi’s so-called “personality cult” are better understood chiefly as forms of infrastructural state building, and as collective platforms designed to encourage the civic performance of exemplary authoritarian citizenship. Although evidence suggests that the pilots were plagued by the lack of funds and human resources, the platformization of local and sub-local government offices and services arguably created a multiplier effect that enhances their scalability and effectiveness at the social grassroots, partially offsetting the limitations in staff and resources. The chapter concludes that, although the “Two Centers” may not have succeeded in increasing the popular appeal of Xi Jinping Thought, the expansion and linking of digital platforms at the county level and below have contributed to the infrastructural power of the Party-state under Xi.