The Politics of Iteration: Knowledge Production in the Fengqiao Model,Past and Present

Abstract

This article examines the intersection of established traditions and emerging novelties in contemporary Chinese grassroots governance reforms through a historical and ethnographic study of the Fengqiao Model, a Mao-era policing discourse that has now been digitally revived. Drawing on the concept of iteration 迭代, we identify three phases of the Fengqiao Model from its inception. Contrary to perspectives emphasizing “window dressing” in studies of Chinese politics, we provide evidence that the iterations of the Fengqiao Model involved genuine intellectual work, relying upon bottom-up forms of knowledge “bricolage” for improvisation and problem solving. We argue that these processes sustain a distinctive mode of revolutionary governmentality characterized by political commitments to continual innovation and refinement, resulting in knowledge production with endless potential for renewal. This iterative character provides useful insights into the inner workings and consequences of bureaucratic practices for knowledge production in China’s “New Era” under Xi Jinping.