Rejecting resistance: Everyday resistance and harmony in Chinese hip-hop

Abstract

In power systems where opportunities for overt expression are limited, the requirements for recognition and intentionality behind acts of resistance risk overlooking the struggles of individuals who must find unpatterned and creative ways to express desires and discontent. Based on 42 interviews with Chinese hip-hop fans and artists and drawing on Scott’s and De Certeau’s theories of everyday resistance, this article shows that resistant acts in China can take transient, unintentional, seemingly apolitical forms disguised by a superficial rejection of resistance. This strategy protects resisters from potential consequences of openly challenging power, enabling the quiet expression of individual visions and dissatisfaction with power and contemporary society through hip-hop. Moving beyond dichotomous conceptions of power and resistance, this article advocates for de-emphasising the requirement of expressed, or expressible, intentionality behind acts of resistance and recognises the significance of ordinary actions of everyday resistance in their potential to catalyse change, shape social spaces and transform cultural patterns.