The Imitation Paradox

Two Moral Universes and China's Path to Digital Modernity
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-3-11-075747-7
Verlag: De Gruyter

Buch, Englisch, 213 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 230 mm, Gewicht: 470 g

Reihe: ISSN

How did China transform from technological copycat to global innovator? challenges Western narratives of "theft" and "imitation," and reframes imitation as a creative force in China's technological rise. Drawing on 40 years of fieldwork – spanning telecoms culture, and pandemic apps – Xiaobai Shen reveals how imitation shapes innovation, participation, and governance in the digital age. Shen argues that China and the West operate within "two moral universes:" In the Chinese framework, shaped by Confucian traditions, ethical concepts like privacy, freedom, and collective good are relational and context-dependent rather than universal. These values support a distinctive digital governance rooted in civic cultivation and mass participation.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Shen, Xiaobai

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein

Über Autor(innen)

Dr Xiaobai Shen is a Senior lecturer (Associate Professor) in International and Chinese Business, the University of Edinburgh Business School. Her primary research interests are in the area of Science & Technology and Innovation Studies with a particular emphasis on China. Currently, she is Co-investigator for the research project on "Isomorphism and Contextuality: national policies for science, competitiveness and innovation (Isomorphic differences) funded by DFF/FSE/FP2; the Principal-Investigator for the research project on funded by the AHRC Centre for Digital Copyright and I.P. Research in China and CREATe, the RCUK Centre for Copyright & New Business Models in the Creative Economy. Previously, she has acted as an investigator for several large research projects in biotechnology and ICT, including G.M. technology in China: the ESRC INNOGEN programme, and CIPR - collective intellectual property rights project under PRIME, funded by an E.U. commission and EU-China ICT Standards partnership. She is associate editor of the . She is the author of (Palgrave Macmillan 1999).