Competing for Soft Power: China’s Image-Making in Africa
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Save the date!
ESC will be hosting an upcoming talk with Dr. Maria Repnikova on October 2nd from 2:30-3:30 pm in Weiser Hall Rm. 555. Dr. Repnikova will give a talk on her book, “Competing for Soft Power: China’s Image-Making in Africa.”
Please register for in-person attendance here, or register here if you plan to attend online.
For more information, you can find more details on the ESC website here.
This talk is co-sponsored by The Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing, the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, and the African Studies Center.
Abstract
Through the critical case study of Ethiopia, Maria Repnikova examines the ambitious but disjointed display of Chinese diplomatic influence in Africa. In doing so, she develops a new theoretical approach to understanding China's practice of soft power, identifying the core mechanisms as tangible enticement with material and experiential offerings, ideational promotion of values, visions, and governance practices, and censorial power over the production and dissemination of China narratives. Through in-depth field work, including interviews and focus groups, Repnikova builds a clear picture of the uneven implementation and reception of this image-making, in which Chinese messengers can improvise official agendas, and Ethiopian recipients can strategically appropriate and negotiate Chinese power. Contrary to popular claims about China replacing the West in the Global South, this innovative research reveals the successes, but also the inconsistencies and limitations of Chinese influence, as well as the ever-present shadow of the West in mediating soft-power encounters.
About ESC
The Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing (ESC – pronounced “escape”) is dedicated to intervening when digital media and computing technologies reproduce inequality, exclusion, corruption, deception, racism, or sexism. ESC is generously supported by the School of Information; the Center for Political Studies at the Institute for Social Research; and the Department of Communication & Media in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Nadia Karizat ([email protected]) and Huiran Yi ([email protected]). We look forward to seeing you!
Featured Speaker
Dr. Maria Repnikova
Georgia State University
Dr. Maria Repnikova is an Associate Professor in Global Communication and a William C. Pate Endowed Chair in Strategic Communication at Georgia State University. She received her doctorate (DPhil) in Politics at the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.
Register here for in-person attendance.
Contact: [email protected]