Representation in an Authoritarian Context: The Case of China’s Private Entrepreneurs

This paper sheds light on two issues: (1) Political representation in an authoritarian context, particularly the Chinese context, and (2) taking formal and informal representation of private entrepreneurs in China as a case study. It presents initial and preliminary findings from a) the literature review and b) field research in various areas in China. The paper explores the way in which entrepreneurs act in a collective manner, i.e. as a group and what this means for the issue of representation and self-representation. An argument frequently found in the scientific literature is that private entrepreneurs in China are largely an atomized group of individuals acting primarily in their own interests. It is also argued that they suffer from political immaturity and a lack of political potential. In contrast, the paper presented contends that private entrepreneurs constitute a specific group increasingly represented by representatives or a kind of self-representation (e.g. via Internet blogging).