A regional and historical approach to platform capitalism: The cases of Alibaba and Tencent. (November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Lin; Chen, Julie Yujie
• Other Names: Steinberg Marc guest-editor.; Mukherjee Rahul guest-editor.; Punathambekar Aswin guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Media, culture, and society. Volume 44:Number 8(2022)
• Page Start: 1454
• Page End: 1472
• Publication Date: 2022-11
• Subjects: Alibaba -- antitrust -- geopolitics -- platform -- infrastructure -- regional and historical approach -- Tencent; Mass media and culture -- Periodicals; Mass media -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Wireless communication systems -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; 302.2305
• DOI: 10.1177/01634437221127796
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0163-4437

Abstract

This article situates China's efforts to toughen the regulation of its tech companies since the late 2010s in the global context of Big Techs rein-in and the specific trajectory of economic development in China. Focusing on the three-phase development of Alibaba and Tencent since the late 1990s, we propose a regional and historical approach to study platform capitalism concerning how platform companies, through interacting and negotiating with shifting institutional conditions, have developed novel business models, organizational structures, and technological innovations. Not a static domination, state power co-shapes platform capitalism through a constant process of institutional improvisation and innovation, as well as interacting with private players. This geographically and historically conscious approach to platform capitalism not only contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the specificities and historicity of platform capitalism in China, but also helps to deprovincialize platform studies and extend its analytical relevance beyond the Euro-American focus or the disciplinary boundaries.