Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Communist Party as rock concert producer

The motives of the Communist leadership might be mixed, but the results are amazing. Rock concerts might not be political, but they are providing opportunities for masses of people to share experiences — not unlike the rallies of the Cultural Revolution. Still, I can't help but think that the cadres who approve and organize these rowdy affairs have some nightmares about the consequences of giving young people some freedom of expression, even if it's not overtly political.

The New York Times article is accompanied by a 4-minute video of scenes from contemporary rock concerts. It would be a good counter point to the video from the Cultural Revolution that follows the article.

Pierced Fans, Stiff Cadres and Hip Rock

A curious thing happened this month at the Midi Music Festival, China’s oldest and boldest agglomeration of rock, funk, punk and electronica. Performers took musical potshots at the country’s leaders, tattooed college students sold antigovernment T-shirts and an unruly crowd of heavy metal fans giddily torched a Japanese flag that had been emblazoned with expletives.

Curious, because the event, a four-day free-for-all of Budweiser, crowd-surfing and camping, was sponsored by the local Communist Party…

The more permissive atmosphere for indie music is a contrast to heightened Internet censorship and the crackdown on vocal advocates of political change. Skeptics say the government is simply trying to co-opt youth culture, but others view the spread of festivals as an encouraging sign that rock, punk and heavy metal might finally have a stage free from the financial and political shackles that have constrained them…

But Yang Haisong of P.K.14 could not help but feel cynical as he looked around at the Modern Sky Music Festival in Beijing going on at the same time as the others. To his right was a Jägermeister tent; to his left, an enormous line of well-dressed people waiting for free Converse tote bags. Asked if he thought Chinese youth culture might be on the brink of a tectonic breakthrough, Mr. Yang smiled and shook his head.
“The government used to see us as dangerous,” he said. “Now they see us as a market.”
China's New Wave Music Festivals (from the New York Times (about 3 minutes)

The Red Guards Song (about 1 minute)