Techno-nationalism as the cultural logic of global infrastructural capitalism: media spectacles and cyber-situations in Huawei Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case

Abstract

This article contributes to a theoretical formulation of techno-nationalism as the cultural logic of infrastructural capitalism by revisiting Debord and Situationist International’s discussion of Spectacle and digital struggles. We deconstruct the concept of techno-nationalism into three interlocking but contradictory media events: techno-nationalism as the “integrated Spectacle,” signifying the power of the state and capital; the disintegrative forces of media spectacles that highlight the ruptures and contradictions of global infrastructural capitalism; and digital resistance through the creation of “cyber-situations.” The case of Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou exemplifies how techno-nationalism emerges as an integrated ideological Spectacle with the help of media spectacles and yet undergoes a disintegration process due to inescapable contradictions and labor conflicts. This research not only analyses China as a case to understand the tactical deployment of the cultural logic of techno-nationalism with a focus on both domestic and international dimensions as political economic and social forces but also on the inherent contradictions and digital struggles in global infrastructural capitalism.

Keywords:

• Techno-nationalism
• Chinese nationalism
• online nationalism
• spectacle
• cyber-situations
• Huawei

Disclosure statement

The authors report that there are no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by GRF funding (Ref No. 13607123).

Notes on contributors

Yuqi Na

Yuqi Na is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Cultural Research and Development, Lingnan University. Her main research interests focus on the political economy of the Internet, digital discourse, and ideology critique. She is the author of The Chinese Internet: Political Economy and Digital Discourse.

Ngai Pun

Ngai Pun is Chair Professor of Cultural Studies at Lingnan University. She is the co-author of Made in China: Women Factory Workers in a Global Workplace and Dying for Apple: Foxconn and Chinese Workers. Her work has been published in journals, such as positions, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Cultural Anthropology, and Sociology.