Beyond Celebrity Politics: Celebrity as Governmentality in China

Abstract

This article investigates the crucial political dimension of celebrity. Specifically, it examines celebrities’ great potential for governmentality in the Chinese context by tracing the history of celebrities in Confucian, Maoist, and post-Maoist governmentalities. It concludes that this type of governmentality, namely, celebrity as governmentality, displays uniquely Chinese characteristics in that it is a set of knowledge, discourses, and techniques used primarily by those who govern. It also highlights the central role of the state as the concrete terrain for the application of this mode of governmentality throughout Chinese history. Finally, it notes the always evolving nature of governmentality, as observed in the phenomena of governing from afar and resistance from below. These findings help us rethink the contingent and diversified nature of the phenomena of celebrity and governmentality and challenge Western norms and political theories that covertly employ them.