Framing traditional culture: cultural nationalists as policy entrepreneurs in the Hu-Wen era

Abstract

Since the reform and opening-up period, the Chinese party-state has faced growing pressure to respond to a pluralised environment shaped by decentralisation and marketisation. The re-emergence of nationalism in the 1990s further complicated the ideological landscape, prompting new efforts to consolidate cultural identity under Party leadership. Within this context, actors promoting traditional culture have emerged as discursive participants in the policy sphere. Drawing on frameworks of cultural nationalism and policy entrepreneurship, this study examines how such intellectuals navigate official discourse and institutional channels to influence outcomes from within the system. While their impact remains constrained, their activity reveals how cultural advocacy can serve both as a mode of participation and a site of negotiation, offering insight into evolving state-society relations and the shifting boundaries of ideological adaptation under authoritarian rule.