Socialist Legacies, Discursive Opportunities and the Diffusion of Anti-GM Crops Discourse in Post-Socialist China

This study unpacks the roles of local cultural repertoires and media systems in glocalising the social movement discourse on anti-genetically modified crops in China. The discourse analysis not only demonstrates how residual Maoism legacies are used to produce Mao-style movement discourses, but also reveals how the resulting ideological disjuncture has led the post-socialist media system to criticise, tailor or activate the Maoist movement discourse. This project calls attention to the impact of socialist legacies on shaping social movement discourses in post-socialist China. It also invites us to reflect on the perspective of "essential diffusionism" pervasive in the movement diffusion literature.