Short Biography

Gladys Pak Lei Chong is Associate Professor of the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing at Hong Kong Baptist University. She received her Ph.D. in Media and Cultural Studies and MA (cum laude) in Migration and Ethnic studies from the University of Amsterdam. She is the author of Chinese Subjectivities and the Beijing Olympics (Rowman and Littlefield International, 2017), co-editor of Trans-Asia as Method: Theory and Practices (Rowman and Littlefield International, 2020), and Critiquing Communication Innovation: New Media in a Multipolar World (Michigan State University Press, 2022). Her journal articles have appeared in interconnections: journal of posthumanism, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Visual Studies, Global Media and China, Science, Technology and Society, The Information Society, Chinese Journal of Communication, China Information, International Journal of the History of Sport, and Journal of Current Chinese Affairs. Her research interests encompass a wide array of topics, such as (Chinese) governmentalities, cultural governance, power-relations, process of subjectification, discourse analysis, governing practices, technology, security, risk, surveillance, globalization, nationalism, gender, gender, place-making, (techno-)nationalism, home, dwellings, digital governance, social credit, communication technology, smart home, artificial intelligence, ageing, visual analysis, infrastructure, platform studies, with a particular focus on (Asian) Cultural Studies, Inter-Asia referencing.

Project

Crafting Tomorrow: Sinofuturism, Technoscience and the World

China’s technological development and market competitiveness have engendered impactful changes in different aspects of daily life, from shopping (e-commerce platforms like Taobao, Pinduoduo, Temu, Shein) and digital infrastructure (Huawei’s 5G technology, AI to payment platforms Alipay, WeChat Pay), to green energy (solar panels to EVs) and smart living (smart city initiatives). China’s ascendency as a technology superpower energises the discourse of Sinofuturity–a China-led future–that is shaking the existing geopolitical orders. Sinofuturity elicits actions and interventions. Chinese authorities tap into its ascending technology position to assert its ruling legitimacy and further strengthen its tech-driven governmental practices. by summoning the Sinofuturistic technotopic potentials, in particular through smart city initiatives to conjure a safe, (time-)efficient, (cost-)effective and sustainable to curb severe challenges and secure economic and political stability. Smart cities are strategic sites to manifest this Sinofuturistic technotopia, Xiong’An and Shenzhen are key examples.

Whereas, the U.S. and many European countries are affectively galvanizing Sinofuturistic risks, threats and crises with regular narratives–“China shock”, “China speed”, Europe in “analog mode”, “lagging behind”, “catching-up”, “a wake-up call”, while highlighting China’s problematic practices “cheap”, “poor-quality”, “using penal labours”, “heavy state subsidies”, “not level playing fields”, “stealing our ideas” (cf. DW News 2024; The Economists 2023)–to drive changes internally. The U.S.’s trade and policy measures, with tariffs, chip export sanctions, TikTok ban proposal, and policies like Inflation Reduction Act, Build Back Better Act, are prominent examples. EU’s tariffs on Chinese EVs, UK and Germany’s decision to remove Chinese mobile networks suppliers like Huawei are another telling examples. Meanwhile, geopolitical struggles and entanglements raise concerns on the damaging humanistic impacts on global sustainability targets, economic slowdowns.

Sinofuturity is a traveling and evolving discourse that unveils the contending forces and dynamics in multiple geopolitical contexts and in different fields. This study investigates how a tech-driven China-led future–Sinofuturity–has been mobilised as governing practices in guiding subjects’ actions in different geopolitical contexts. Sinofuturity is interwoven with local, regional and inter-national concerns over security, risk management, care and sustainability. Smart cities initiatives provide an important platform to investigate the interconnections between the discourses of Sinofuturity and the ordinary daily practices within and outside China. “New” futures are constructed and mobilised as both aspirations as well as “new” risks and crises.

The PI grounds the research on an empirical examination of four case studies that examines – crucial, competitive, and comparable – tech-related daily practices framed within the future-oriented smart city initiatives in four global economic hubs. One of the four case studies focuses specifically on green energy within EU, with specific focus on Amsterdam. This project addresses key future-oriented smart city smart living smart societies developmental goals: quality of life, mobility, economic growth and sustainability. It examines the shifting geopolitical power dynamics driven by China’s technoscience advancement.