Contentious Politics and Ducks: China Edition

5 June 2013, 1206 EDT

In case you don’t know, the PRC has censored searches for “Big Yellow Duck.” The reason?

You can see a larger version here.The arrival of Florentijn Hofman’s yellow duck in Hong Kong harbor sparked a great deal of excitement in China, where the duck has become incredibly popular. A number of stories document a proliferation of knock-off ducks throughout the country, including one large in Shanghai and numerous smaller imitations. So it isn’t that surprising that a microblogger would appropriate Hofman’s duck for memorializing the 1989 failed democratic uprising.

Via just about everyone. Seriously. We don’t need any more messages about this. But thanks everyone! It is exciting to hear from readers and to realize the extent of our reach.

Also, apologies to Tyr for forgetting to provide honorary linkage on his day. Hope we don’t upset Wotan too.

Dan Nexon

Daniel H. Nexon is a Professor at Georgetown University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Government and the School of Foreign Service. His academic work focuses on international-relations theory, power politics, empires and hegemony, and international order. He has also written on the relationship between popular culture and world politics.

He has held fellowships at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation and at the Ohio State University's Mershon Center for International Studies. During 2009-2010 he worked in the U.S. Department of Defense as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow. He was the lead editor of International Studies Quarterly from 2014-2018.

He is the author of The Struggle for Power in Early Modern Europe: Religious Conflict, Dynastic Empires, and International Change (Princeton University Press, 2009), which won the International Security Studies Section (ISSS) Best Book Award for 2010, and co-author of Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order (Oxford University Press, 2020). His articles have appeared in a lot of places. He is the founder of the The Duck of Minerva, and also blogs at Lawyers, Guns and Money.