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[Commlist] CFP: Chinese Journal of Communication Special Issue on "Decentralised Technologies and Global Chinese Communities"
Wed Aug 06 08:27:17 GMT 2025
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CALL FOR PAPERS____
Chinese Journal of Communication____
Special Issue on "Decentralised Technologies and Global Chinese
Communities"____
____
View Call for Papers online:____
https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/decentralised-technologies-and-global-chinese-communities/
<https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/decentralised-technologies-and-global-chinese-communities/>____
____
____
SPECIAL ISSUE EDITOR(S)____
Tom McDonald, Department of Sociology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong
Kong SAR, China____
(mcdonald /at/ hku.hk) <mailto:(mcdonald /at/ hku.hk)>____
____
Haiqing Yu, School of Media & Communication & ADM+S Centre, RMIT
University, Melbourne, Australia____
(haiqing.yu /at/ rmit.edu.au) <mailto:(haiqing.yu /at/ rmit.edu.au)>____
____
Jiaxi Hou, School of Media & Communication & ADM+S Centre, RMIT
University, Melbourne, Australia____
(houjiaxi725 /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(houjiaxi725 /at/ gmail.com)>____
____
____
DECENTRALISED TECHNOLOGIES AND GLOBAL CHINESE COMMUNITIES____
____
Decentralised technologies—including blockchain, distributed ledgers,
and the Web3 ecosystem (such as decentralised finance [DeFi],
decentralised autonomous organisations [DAOs], and cryptocurrencies)—are
transforming global economic, social, cultural, and communicative
structures. Promising greater autonomy, transparency, and inclusivity,
these technologies challenge established institutional power structures
and enable new forms of organisation, interaction, and transaction.____
____
For global Chinese communities—comprising diasporic, transnational, and
mainland Chinese populations, including those of Chinese descent who may
not self-identify as “Chinese”—decentralised technologies present both
profound opportunities and pressing challenges. These communities are
not only active in developing, investing in, and applying these
technologies, but are also reimagining their networks, identities, and
cultural practices through them. In doing so, they contribute to the
emergence of new and alternative ideologies for blockchain, such as
community-based governance models, reconfigured kinship or clan
networks, and experimentation with decentralised collective action
grounded in Chinese cultural and political contexts. These ideologies
may differ significantly from the libertarian or techno-utopian beliefs
often foregrounded in Western blockchain discourses.____
____
These efforts offer rich potential for invigorating scholarly inquiry
beyond the dominant Western frames that have shaped most blockchain
research to date. Existing research tends to focus on competing
ideologies embedded in decentralised infrastructures and their capacity
to spread globally due to the technologies’ “borderless” nature. This
special issue calls for deeper attention to how such ideological
frameworks are adapted, challenged, or reshaped in Chinese
contexts—ranging from grassroots experimentation with DAO governance to
state-aligned visions of “trusted” decentralisation and platform
sovereignty.____
____
Moreover, this special issue seeks to broaden the scope of inquiry to
include the making of the infrastructures—technical, economic, social,
and logistical—that support decentralised technologies. This includes
mining operations, server farms, coding networks, and investment
infrastructures, as well as the (dis)continuities with earlier
decentralised movements in Chinese history, such as rural mutual aid
societies or early internet forums. What historical forms of
decentralisation do these technologies recall, rework, or depart from?____
____
To address these questions, we highlight the pivotal but underexplored
role that Chinese communities have played in building the infrastructure
and applications of decentralised systems. From mining operations and
foundational code contributions to “pop-up” cities and citizen-led DAOs,
Chinese actors have significantly shaped the technical, social, and
ideological contours of decentralised ecosystems. At the same time,
everyday adoption—via digital currency, social tokens, decentralised
apps (dApps), and cross-border transactions—continues to transform daily
life and communication practices for many Chinese users, inside and
outside of mainland China.____
____
This special issue invites contributions that explore how decentralised
technologies intersect with the evolving notion of global Chinese
communities and transnational communication in and beyond mainland
China. We especially encourage papers that draw from and contribute to
media and communication research, including (but not limited to) digital
platform studies, media infrastructures, the political economy of
communication, cultural production, and theories of publics and
counterpublics. By foregrounding communicative practices, media systems,
and cultural discourses, this issue aims to connect decentralised
technologies to core concerns in communication and media scholarship.____
____
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SUGGESTED TOPICS:____
____
I. Case Studies of Chinese-led Blockchain and Web3 Projects____
____
* Roles of Chinese diasporic entrepreneurs and developers in blockchain
ecosystems.____
* Blockchain and crypto adoption in Chinese communities: cultural and
economic practices, digital currencies, and mobile platforms.____
* Cultural preservation via decentralised media: NFTs, decentralised
archives, and storytelling.____
* Navigating regulatory tensions between mainland China and global
crypto governance.____
* Risks of decentralisation: scams, disinformation, and systemic
inequality in Chinese contexts.____
____
II. Ethnographies of Chinese Communities and Decentralised Technologies____
____
* Blockchain-enabled connectivity for fragmented Chinese communities.____
* Sociotechnical imaginaries: how different Chinese communities envision
blockchain futures.____
* DAOs as tools for collective organising, resource-sharing, and
identity reformation.____
* The cultural politics of decentralised systems within Confucian,
collectivist, or hierarchical traditions.____
* Frictions between decentralised experimentation and the centralising
Chinese tradition.____
____
III. Infrastructures and (Dis)Continuities____
____
* Technical and economic infrastructures: mining, funding, logistics,
and digital labour.____
* Comparative studies of infrastructure-building across geographies and
Chinese subgroups.____
* The uneven development and accessibility of decentralised
infrastructure within the Chinese-speaking world.____
* Continuities and discontinuities between the past and contemporary
forms of organising (because of new technologies).____
____
IV. AI and Web3 Convergence____
____
* Integration of Chinese-developed AI with Web3 for new socio-technical
formations.____
* Automated governance and machine-learning-enhanced DAOs in Chinese
projects.____
* Cultural production in AI/Web3 convergence: Chinese creators,
platforms, and fans.____
* Web3’s influence on Chinese language, identity, and traditional
practices.____
* Philosophical and ethical questions in Chinese-language discourses on
AI and Web3.____
____
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SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS____
____
** Workshop for Papers **____
____
Authors intending to submit a manuscript for consideration in this
special issue are encouraged to take advantage of a closed-door workshop
to be held at the University of Hong Kong on 28 October 2025, where they
will have the opportunity to present and receive feedback on an early
draft of their papers prior to submission.____
____
Applications to participate in the workshop should be received by 14
August 2025 (https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0cxfXO7SkjYT1fU
<https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0cxfXO7SkjYT1fU>). Please
note that participation in the workshop does not guarantee that the
paper will be included in the special issue.____
____
____
** Full Manuscripts for Peer Review **____
____
Manuscript deadline: 19 January 2026.____
Submission site accessed
via:https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/decentralised-technologies-and-global-chinese-communities/
<https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/decentralised-technologies-and-global-chinese-communities/>____
____
During the submission process, please indicate that your submission is
intended for inclusion in the special issue “Decentralised Technologies
and Global Chinese Communities”.____
____
All submitted manuscripts are subject to rigorous blind peer-review
process. All accepted manuscripts will be published online first. No
Article Processing Charge (APC) is required for this special issue,
unless an author decides to publish with open access. The planned
printed publication date is an issue of Chinese Journal of Communication
in 2027.
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