Chinese Subjectivities and the Beijing Olympics develops the Foucauldian concept of productive power through examining the ways in which the Chinese government tried to mobilize the population to embrace its Olympic project through deploying various sets of strategies and tactics. It argues that the multifaceted strategies, tactics, and discourses deployed by the Chinese authorities sustain an order of things and values in such a way that drive individuals to commit themselves actively to the goals of the party-state. The book examines how these processes of subjectification are achieved by zooming in on five specific groups of the population: athletes, young Olympic volunteers, taxi drivers, Chinese citizens targeted by place-making projects, and the Hong Kong population. In doing so it probes critically into the role of individuals and how they take on the governmental ideas to become responsible autonomous subjects.

"Chinese Subjectivities and the Beijing Olympics is chock full of information and ideas about the Beijing Olympics, all based on years of fieldwork. Chong is balanced in her approach, pointing out positive and negative aspects of the Olympics experience from many perspectives. Her work illustrates the rich applicability of Foucault’s theories in the modern social world, and shows how a massive global spectacle can produce a complex mix of engagement and resistance." - MCLC Resource Center

"Overall, the book opens up a series of questions that go well beyond the Olympic moment, and it makes a much-welcome contribution that will be of great interest for scholars and students of Chinese and Asian studies, media and communication studies, cultural studies and political science, and more generally anyone interested in questions of power, identity and governmentality in contemporary politics." - New Books Asia

"Chong’s book is a highly original, informed, and eloquent examination of the Beijing Olympics, and its insights have ramifications beyond this particular event and this particular city. It is essential reading for people concerned with contemporary China, state power, and cultural politics." - China Information, Vol. 32, No. 3