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Article published In:
Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 17:1 (2018) ► pp.70–91

Organisational change, ideologies and mega discourses

“De-SMOisation” of the third sector in authoritarian China

 | Chinese University of Hong Kong
Mega discourses, as discourses recognised and espoused at the broader societal level, enact the taken-for-granted premises governing an organisational sector. The dominant power can designate the value, norm and moral duty of an organisational sector through manipulating such mega discourses. Conceptualised within critical discourse studies and Chinese discourse studies, this article assesses the official discourse of China’s third sector circulating in the policy documents, political speeches, and news media, illustrating how China’s authoritarian state utilises discursive strategies to articulate a new order of discourse of the third sector. It argues that such an alternative discursive ordering is significantly different from its western counterpart. The authoritarian state has strategically appropriated historical and cultural resources to legitimise such a “de-SMOisation” process, intending to insulate nongovernmental organisations from social movements. This study concludes with a discussion on the significance and implications of this third sector discourse.
Keywords: Mega discourse, organisational change, de-SMOisation, the third sector, social movements, China’s revolutionary discourse
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Organisational change, ideologies and mega discourses
  • 3.De-SMOisation as a discursive process in authoritarian China
    • 3.1Contextualising de-SMOisation
    • 3.2Three-pronged discursive process
  • 4.Institutional background and data collection
  • 5.Re-articulating the order of discourse of the third sector
    • 5.1Situated within “socialism with Chinese characteristics”
    • 5.2Infused with traditional values
  • 6.Revolutionary discourse and (de)legitimation
    • 6.1“Didui-shili”, ideological battle and patriotism
    • 6.2Discursive positioning and ingroup-outgroup polarisation
  • 7.Mediating the people’s society
    • 7.1Censorship: In the name of the people
    • 7.2Propaganda: Negatively represent hostile organisations
  • 8.Concluding discussion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 20 October 2017
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https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.17015.hua
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