Entrapped subjects: Disciplinary techniques in China’s multi-level marketing organizations

Abstract

China’s multi-level marketing (MLM) or chuanxiao organizations remain pervasive and remarkably resilient despite continuous regulatory crackdowns. While existing scholarship largely focuses on guanxi-based recruitment and ritual-centered indoctrination, it often overlooks the complex and evolving mechanisms of control that sustain these organizations. This study draws on Michel Foucault’s theory of disciplinary power to develop a domination perspective, emphasizing the systematic deployment of disciplinary techniques in everyday organizational practices. Through three-level coding of 25 personal narratives posted on Zhihu (the Chinese equivalent of Quora), using NVivo 12, this study identifies four interconnected forms of control: behavioral, emotional, cognitive and informational. It further reveals a notable shift from overt behavioral control toward more nuanced forms of emotional and cognitive regulation. These findings shed new light on how China’s chuanxiao organizations persist and adapt within a framework of strict legal oversight.