@dechunzhang
Postdoc at the Department of Communication, University of Copenhagen. Managing Editor @jceajournal.bsky.social, Editor of Asia Pacific Viewpoint, @gpccomm.bsky.social, Sage Open & Social Media Editor @jvpcjournal.bsky.social. Web: http://dechunzhang.com
The inaugural issue of @gpccomm.bsky.social is now online! 🎆
Edited by @bowmanspartan.bsky.social, the issue explores key global communication topics—from digital health information seeking to misinformation and TikTok’s global rise.
🔗 academic.oup.com/gpc/issue/1/1
CFP Reminder — 1 week left!
Special Issue in Communication and the Public: Co-Producing Environmental Publics: Technology, Communication, and Ecological Transformation
We welcome research on digital technologies shaping environmental publics and governance.
Abstracts Deadline: March 20, 2026
Together with Jun Liu, I’ve signed a contract with Edward Elgar Publishing for our edited volume Research Handbook on Communication in China.
Excited to engage with scholars working on political communication, media systems, digital platforms, and China in the global communication order.
📢 Call for Papers | Communication and the Public
Special Issue: Co-Producing Environmental Publics: Technology, Communication & Ecological Transformation
🗓️ Abstract deadline: 20 March 2026
Please RT & share with interested colleagues 🌍📣
Call for Papers
I’m organizing, with Han Lin and Weiai (Wayne) Xu, a Special Issue titled:
“Co-Producing Environmental Publics: Technology, Communication & Ecological Transformation” for Communication and the Public
Abstract deadline: 20 March 2026
CFP: drive.google.com/file/d/1zAr6...
My forthcoming book, Digital Nationalism and Affective Governance: Propaganda, Public Sentiment, and Soft Authoritarianism in China (Routledge), now has an official cover and is listed on the publisher’s website. It is expected to be published in 2026.
🔗 www.routledge.com/9781041308775
For those who may be interested, the publisher has provided 50 free ePrint copies of my recent article: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/JDP8H...
The article is not OA; this link provides temporary free access for a limited number of readers and may be useful to colleagues working on related topics.
My new coauthored paper, with Zesheng Yang & Ava Xingmeng Huang, “Negotiating sporting identity in divided discursive spaces: nationalism and localism in the Guangdong–Hong Kong Cup,” is now published in Sport in Society. Full paper: doi.org/10.1080/1743...
📢 The Winter Issue of the Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia (JCEA) is now published! Featuring 4 Regular Issue articles + a Special Issue on Digital Transformations in Asian Politics. Explore the full issue here: koreascience.or.kr/journal/OSTR...
Our editorial with Justin Chun-ting Ho, “Entangled Futures — Governance, Resistance, and Publics in Digital Transformations,” for the special issue Digital Transformations in Asian Politics at @jceajournal.bsky.social is out now. East Asia reshapes digital governance debates. doi.org/10.17477/jce...
📢 New Special Issue Released!
Self-Authorized Discourses: The Case of Stickers is now out in JVPC.
Includes 1 editorial + 5 articles on stickers as communicative artefacts.
Opening editorial: “Small is beautiful!?” by Gertrud Reershemius & Evelyn Ziegler.
DOI: doi.org/10.1386/jvpc...
Our paper with @xueyancao.bsky.social, "Creative Digital Resistance on China’s Virtual Wailing Wall," now in China Information! We explore how the platform evolved from pandemic critique to personal narratives that challenge dominant political narratives. Detail: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
My coauthored paper, "Creative Digital Resistance on China’s Virtual Wailing Wall," is published in China Information! We explore how the platform evolved from pandemic critique to personal narratives that challenge dominant political narratives. Detail: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Honored to be elected as the Student & Early Career Representative for @icahdq.bsky.social Mass Communication Division! 🎉
Looking forward to supporting initiatives, fostering collaboration, and contributing to our community’s continued growth and success!
In case you are in Vancouver this Friday (Sep 26), I will be giving a talk around noon time (12.30-2.30 pm) on knowledge decolonisation and identity politics in Chinese IR at the Liu Institute for Global Issues, University of British Columbia/UBC.
sppga.ubc.ca/events/event...
Thanks Sinan.
🔔 New #OpenAccess Article in #JCCA Journal of Current Chinese Affairs @giga-hamburg.de
Weiwen Yu and Dechun Zhang @dechunzhang.bsky.social analyse 213,435 #Weibo posts to trace how engagement with the digital memorial for Dr. #WenliangLi evolved journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
My new paper, Digital Mourning and Civic Engagement: Emotional Dynamics on China’s Virtual Wailing Wall shows Dr. Li Wenliang’s Weibo wall shifted from talk to grief & remembrance under censorship, regions & diaspora, in Journal of Current Chinese Affairs.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Dechun Zhang's paper on how nationalist propaganda works as an authoritarian infrastructure in China is another of the papers in our forthcoming special issue on Authoritarianism in the Digital Age. Check them all out here: journals.sagepub.com/home/DDS
I’m excited to share that I am running for election as the Student and Early Career Representative of the Mass Communication Division of ICA. If you are a member of the Mass Communication Division, I would be grateful for your support. Please consider voting for me: www.icahdq.org/page/Electio...
The Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia (Scopus-indexed) seeks reviewers for: 1) Geopolitics at the Internet’s Core (Springer, 2025) & 2) Innovation-Development Detours for Latecomers (CUP, 2024). Reviews: 3–5 pp. Info: jceasia.org Volunteer: jceabooks@gmail.com
📢 Call for Papers – Special Issue
The Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia invites submissions for:
“Living with ChatGPT: Social, Psychological, and Economic Impacts of Generative AI in East Asia”
CFP details 👉 drive.google.com/file/d/1G_TJ...
I argue that soft authoritarianism in China is an adaptive governance model that blends selective openness, participatory propaganda, and algorithmic control to simulate responsiveness and mobilize nationalism, while constructing a fear environment for public through censorship and coercion.
New piece in @dialoguesdigsoc.bsky.social: “Digital Nationalism in China: Expression, Propaganda, and Soft Authoritarianism”. It shows how digital nationalism in China works as soft authoritarianism, blending control with participatory propaganda. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Probably a small thing to many, but I just noticed I’ve reached a small milestone — 200 citations on Google Scholar.
My new paper, coauthored with Ruoxin Su, “Adaptive Sovereignty: China’s Evolving Legislative Framework for Transnational Data Governance,” introduces the adaptive sovereignty model—blending state control with selective regulatory flexibility. Now in Politics and Governance: doi.org/10.17645/pag...
New in JCEA: Personal Political Characteristics and Trust in State Media: A Case Study of China
Xin Tong analyzes how political traits shape trust in Chinese state media using Asian Barometer data—offering insights into media trust in authoritarian contexts.
🔗 doi.org/10.17477/jce...
New in JCEA: Navigating the Audience Costs of Humanitarian Aid for Rising States: A Case Study of India’s COVID-19 Response
Xiaojuan Qiu & Liya Yan explore how India balanced sovereignty, legitimacy, and public perception in managing aid during the pandemic.
🔗 doi.org/10.17477/jce...
My new coauthored paper with Jun Liu & Hsuanlei Shao, “Between Nationalist Propaganda and Public Mobilization,” is out in Oxford Intersections. We use computational analysis to explore how China’s propaganda shapes nationalist discourse and how the public responds on Weibo. doi.org/10.1093/9780...
Thrilled to be part of the team for this newly launched ICA journal! Excited for the journey ahead under the leadership of @bowmanspartan.bsky.social
Looking forward to seeing great contributions—consider submitting your work to help shape this exciting new publication!