East Asia Workshop: Politics, Economy and Society presents
“How Chinese new immigrants become Trump supporters?
Revisiting theories of political resocialization in the context of 2016 Presidential Election on Zhihu (the “Chinese Quora”)”
Di Zhou
MAPSS student, Social Science Division
University of Chicago
4:30-6:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 16, 2017
Pick Lounge, 5828 South University Ave.
*Light refreshments will be served*
Abstract
How do first-generation immigrants and migrants adapt to a new political environment, learn to form political ideas, and participate in politics? How could a group of new immigrants and migrants become passionate Trump supporters despite Trump’s blatant anti-immigration messages? Answers to these questions require a revisit to current scholarship on political resocialization for new immigrants. The case in spotlight, the Chinese Trump supporters in the U.S., is a vivid example of how prior political knowledge can interact with exposures to both the U.S. mainstream media and an ethnic social network – Zhihu (the “Chinese Quora”). In this thesis project, I interviewed Trump supporters (and those debated with them) who are foreign-born Chinese immigrants (now U.S. citizens or green card holders) and migrants (with working or student visas). Their recent relocation from China to the U.S. and their active political expression during the 2016 general election provides a great chance to study the interactive effect between one’s prior political knowledge and their exposure to different information sources as they are embedded in multiple physical and virtual social networks.
In the workshop, I will engage with studies on new immigrants in the U.S., theories of political resocialization and studies on political communication, and present preliminary findings on 32 interviews with Chinese new immigrants and migrants who were involved in the online debate about the 2016 Presidential Election on Zhihu.
About the Speaker
Di Zhou is a MAPSS student concentrated in Sociology at the University of Chicago. She is interested in political sociology, political socialization and digital communication.
*To see the full Spring 2017 schedule, please visit: Spring schedule
Faculty sponsors:
Xi Song (Sociology), Dali Yang (Political Science), and Dingxin Zhao (Sociology)
The East Asia Workshop is sponsored by the Council on Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences. Persons with disabilities who believe they may need assistance please contact the student coordinator in advance.