BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) as a post-shanzhai phenomenon: An analysis from the perspective of antifragility and modularization
dc.contributor.author | Benítez Eyzaguirre, Lucía | |
dc.contributor.author | Gordo López, Ángel Juan | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2024-02-06T13:56:34Z | |
dc.date.available | 2024-02-06T13:56:34Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2023-06-26 | |
dc.description.abstract | Shanzhai refers to the production of mobile phones that imitate popular brands, a practice that became widespread in China around a decade ago. This form of production is characterized by modularity: the division of products into small independent components that make it easier to update and replace parts without affecting the whole. In this article, we analyze modularization as a post-shanzhai phenomenon in China’s largest technology companies – Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (BAT) – in order to compare them to their Western equivalents: Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft (GAFAM). Instead of exoticizing Chinese technological development or undertaking another postcolonial reading, we use the concepts of ‘boundary objects’ and ‘antifragility’ to put the revolutionary values that endure in post-shanzhai China (and elsewhere) into perspective. In addition, we conclude that a fuller sociohistorical understanding of the ambivalences of shanzhai may encourage more self-critical understandings of Western technological and digital developments. | |
dc.description.abstract | Shanzhai es el término que define la producción de teléfonos móviles de imitación de las grandes marcas que fue popular en China hace más de una década. Este estilo se caracteriza por la modularidad, la división en pequeñas partes independientes, más fáciles de actualizar o reemplazar sin afectar al conjunto. Analizamos la modularización en las grandes tecnológicas chinas BAT (Baidu, Alibaba y Tencent), como un fenómeno post-shanzhai, para comparar estas empresas con las occidentales GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon y Microsoft). En lugar de exotizar el impulso tecnológico chino o redundar en una nueva lectura postcolonial de este desarrollo, ponemos en perspectiva los valores revolucionarios que perduran en la China post-shanzhai (entre otras geografías) con la ayuda de los conceptos boundary objects [objetos límite o fronterizos] y ‘antifragilidad’. Concluimos que una perspectiva sociohistórica de las ambivalencias que constituyen el fenómeno shanzhai puede fomentar una comprensión menos complaciente de los desarrollos tecnológicos y digitales occidentales. | |
dc.description.department | Depto. de Sociología: Metodología y Teoría | |
dc.description.faculty | Fac. de Ciencias Políticas y Sociología | |
dc.description.refereed | TRUE | |
dc.description.status | pub | |
dc.identifier.citation | Benítez-Eyzaguirre, Lucía y Gordo, Angel (2023). BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) as a post-shanzhai phenomenon: An analysis from the perspective of antifragility and modularization. Teknokultura. Revista de Cultura Digital y Movimientos Sociales, 20(Special Issue), 15-25. https://doi.org/10.5209/tekn.87890 | |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.5209/tekn.87890 | |
dc.identifier.essn | 1549-2230 | |
dc.identifier.officialurl | https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/TEKN/article/view/87890 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/99548 | |
dc.issue.number | 20 (Número Especial) | |
dc.journal.title | Teknokultura. Revista de Cultura Digital y Movimientos Sociales | |
dc.language.iso | eng | |
dc.page.final | 25 | |
dc.page.initial | 15 | |
dc.publisher | Universidad Complutense de Madrid | |
dc.rights | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International | en |
dc.rights.accessRights | open access | |
dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ | |
dc.subject.keyword | Boundary objects | |
dc.subject.keyword | China social media | |
dc.subject.keyword | Digital development | |
dc.subject.keyword | ICT in China | |
dc.subject.keyword | Maker culture | |
dc.subject.keyword | Political economy and technology in China | |
dc.subject.keyword | Objetos límite/fronterizos | |
dc.subject.keyword | Cultura maker | |
dc.subject.keyword | Economía política y tecnología en China | |
dc.subject.keyword | Medios sociales en China | |
dc.subject.keyword | TIC en China | |
dc.subject.ucm | Ciencias Sociales | |
dc.subject.unesco | 63 Sociología | |
dc.subject.unesco | 59 Ciencia Política | |
dc.title | BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) as a post-shanzhai phenomenon: An analysis from the perspective of antifragility and modularization | |
dc.type | journal article | |
dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
relation.isAuthorOfPublication | 91fd0a09-a9c8-4791-bc9e-9d90dd30c065 | |
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery | 91fd0a09-a9c8-4791-bc9e-9d90dd30c065 |
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