PhD Defence: Zhen Ye – An Industry was Born: Investigating (gendered) livestreaming cultural production in China

Time: 27 November 2024, 10:30-12:00

Location: Rotterdam University, Campus Woudestijn, Education Center, Senate Hall

Livestreaming practices are increasingly influencing Chinese people’s everyday lives in social, cultural, and economic terms. The showroom livestreaming, known as xiuchang zhibo, features various content entertainment from singing and dancing to mundane everyday life activities such as chatting and eating. Whereas e-commerce livestreaming stands for a different business mode in which brands and retailers use livestreaming channels to promote products to their consumers. It fascinates me that livestreaming technology enables us to put different aspects of our social life online in real time. Therefore, this dissertation offers a critical account of why and how individuals, institutions, and platforms come together as components of the emergent livestreaming industry in the socio-political context of China.