Border Patrol on the Digital Frontier: China, the United States, and the Global War over Data

FAIN: FEL-262653-19

Aynne Elizabeth Kokas
University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA 22903-4833)

Research and writing leading to a book-length study on how US technology companies and the Chinese government are changing the global relationships among individuals, governments, and markets.

My book project, Border Patrol on the Digital Frontier: China, the United States, and the Global War over Data, argues that by structuring the storage and limiting the flow of consumer data into and out of its borders, China is defining the relationship between citizens, data, and the nation in the twenty-first century not just within its own borders, but also—through its engagement with transnational technology corporations—for the world. The intellectual significance of this project lies in its examination of how the tetrabytes of data being generated by consumer applications are challenging individual and national identities, particularly through the cooperative structuring of this data by corporations and national governments. Because consumer data touches on the most intimate moments of human life, which are now shared online, this project shapes questions of identity and power in the twenty-first century, both for scholars and the general public.

Media Coverage

Coronavirus could threaten success of Disney's live-action 'Mulan' (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Frank Pallotta
Publication: CNN Business
Date: 1/10/2020
URL: http:/https://www.fox10tv.com/news/us_world_news/coronavirus-could-threaten-success-of-disneys-live-action-mulan/article_aa7904c2-7025-5ba4-9ec2-ff30eb7feb8b.html

What Does Hollywood Lose When It Works With China? (Media Coverage)
Publication: The Nation
Date: 3/3/2020
URL: http:/https://www.thenation.com/article/world/hollywood-china-trade-war/

The Time is Now: John Cena and China Reaction (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Aaron C. Jones
Publication: Need to Know Podcast by the Wilson Center
Date: 6/2/2021
Abstract: Media Studies expert, China watcher, and friend of the Need to Know Podcast, Aynne Kokas comes back to talk about John Cena's faux pas regarding China and Taiwan—and why western celebrities always seem quick to apologize for such things.
URL: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/audio/time-now-john-cena-and-china-reaction

How Has The Relationship Between Hollywood and China Changed (Media Coverage)
Publication: Cheddar News
Date: 6/24/2021
Abstract: Aynne Kokas, author of 'Hollywood Made in China' and senior faculty fellow at Miller Center, joins Cheddar to discuss the relationship between Hollywood and China.
URL: http://cheddar.com/media/how-has-the-relationship-between-hollywood-and-china-changed

Chinese social media shutdown of LGBT student groups ‘highlights backlash against Western influences’ (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Maryann Xue
Publication: South China Morning Post
Date: 7/11/2021
Abstract: + The decision to close dozen of student groups’ WeChat accounts may be linked to wider tensions with the West and a new focus on traditional values + Many still see homosexuality as a result of foreign lifestyles and not compatible with Chinese culture
URL: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3140626/chinese-social-media-shutdown-lgbt-student-groups-highlights

Facebook’s Super Spreaders: What message is Beijing trying to send? (Media Coverage)
Author(s): KATRINA NORTHROP
Publication: The Wire China
Date: 7/25/2021
URL: https://www.thewirechina.com/2021/07/25/facebooks-super-spreaders/

The CCP 100th in Media Narratives : Appeasing Young Viewers Puts Party Leadership to the Test (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Aynne Kokas
Publication: The Wilson Center
Date: 8/11/2021
URL: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/ccp-100th-media-narratives-appeasing-young-viewers-puts-party-leadership-test

Associated Products

Producing global China: The Great Wall and Hollywood’s cultivation of the PRC’s global vision (Article)
Title: Producing global China: The Great Wall and Hollywood’s cultivation of the PRC’s global vision
Author: Aynne Kokas
Abstract: China’s economic might in the film industry has transformed representation in Hollywood. This paper examines how the expanded role of the Chinese market, both in terms of audience size and financing, has both reasserted hegemonic Hollywood genre and talent selection and asserted hegemonic Chinese standards. This takes the form of more genre films, more conservative casting in terms of race and gender, and the privileging of mainstream political discourse in both the United States in China. Using the case of Zhang Yimou’s 2016 martial arts monster film, The Great Wall, the article argues that the influence of the Chinese market on mainstream filmmaking reinforces, rather than challenges, the pressures shaping choices of financing, genre, and casting in Hollywood blockbusters.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17508061.2019.1678485?scroll=top&needAccess=true
Primary URL Description: Taylor and Francis Journal of Chinese Cinemas website
Access Model: subscription
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Journal of Chinese Cinemas
Publisher: Journal of Chinese Cinemas

How Distance Learning Could Put Chinese Students at US Universities at Risk (Blog Post)
Title: How Distance Learning Could Put Chinese Students at US Universities at Risk
Author: Aynne Kokas
Author: Michael Xiao
Abstract: This is a guest post by Aynne Kokas and Michael Xiao. Kokas is a Kluge Fellow, a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, as well as Associate Professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia. Kokas is the author of the book “Hollywood Made in China,” which examines the cultural, political and economic implications of US media investment in China as it becomes the world’s largest film market. Xiao is a Kluge Center intern and student at Georgetown University.
Date: 8/21/2020
Primary URL: http:/https://blogs.loc.gov/kluge/2020/08/how-distance-learning-could-put-chinese-students-at-us-universities-at-risk/
Blog Title: Insights: Scholarly Work at the John Kluge Center

Grindr and Data Trafficking: Theorizing consent in data localization (Report)
Title: Grindr and Data Trafficking: Theorizing consent in data localization
Author: Aynne Kokas
Abstract: HICSS-55 Decision Notification for Submission 2944
Date: 10/01/2021

Is U.S. Foreign Policy Too Hostile to China? (Article)
Title: Is U.S. Foreign Policy Too Hostile to China?
Author: Foreign Affairs' editors
Abstract: We at Foreign Affairs have recently published a number of pieces on U.S. foreign policy toward China and whether it has become too hostile. To complement these articles, we decided to ask a broad pool of experts for their take. As with previous surveys, we approached dozens of authorities with specialized expertise relevant to the question at hand, together with leading generalists in the field. Participants were asked to state whether they agreed or disagreed with a proposition and to rate their confidence level in their opinion.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ask-the-experts/2021-10-19/us-foreign-policy-too-hostile-china
Primary URL Description: www.foreignaffairs.com
Format: Newspaper
Publisher: Foreign Affairs

Trafficking Data: How China Is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty (Book)
Title: Trafficking Data: How China Is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty
Author: Aynne Elizabeth Kokas
Year: 2022
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=197620507
Primary URL Description: WorldCat entry (197620507)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 197620507

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