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An Evaluation of Dr. Chen Jingyuan’s Case from Anthony Giddens’ Structuration Theory Perspective

Anthony Giddens (1938–), a pivotal sociologist, developed structuration theory in The Constitution of Society (1984) to bridge agency and structure in social life. At its core, structures—rules and resources—are not rigid external constraints but dualities of structure: recursively produced and reproduced through human action. Agents, embedded in time-space contexts, draw on structures to act while simultaneously enacting and transforming them. Giddens emphasizes “duality of structure,” where knowledgeable actors reflexively monitor their conduct, navigating power asymmetries and unintended consequences. From this lens, Dr. Chen Jingyuan’s 2023 conviction for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” (寻衅滋事罪)—for forwarding low-impact Twitter posts on art, emotion, theory, and history—illustrates structuration’s duality in a repressive context: the judicial structure constrains Chen’s agency, yet his resistance reflexively reproduces and challenges it, exposing the recursive reproduction of power and the potential for transformative praxis.

The Judicial Structure as Constraint: Recursive Reproduction of Power

Giddens views structures as both enabling and constraining: rules (e.g., legal norms) and resources (e.g., institutional authority) shape action while being shaped by it. In Chen’s case, the Kunming judiciary—Judge Pu Huijun, Prosecutor Ge Bin, and appellate Judge Li Xiangyun—embodies a constraining structure: the “pocket crime” vagueness of Article 293 of the Criminal Law serves as a rule of recursive control, “sorting” Chen’s posts (e.g., the “umbrella girl” cartoon evoking resilience, June 4th candlelight fostering memory, political spectrum analyses, Trump’s communism critiques, Mao’s revised works) as “false information disrupting public order.” With under 100 retweets, near-zero followers, and no verifiable disruption, the structure reproduces itself: procedural opacity (non-public trials, denied defenses, suppressed prison letters, selective enforcement against Chen but not state media) allocates resources to maintain the status quo, constraining Chen’s agency to silence.

This duality reveals unintended consequences: the structure enables judicial power but constrains societal reflexivity—chilling inquiry, eroding trust, and perpetuating anomie. Giddens’s time-space distanciation applies: the judiciary, a local “time-space edge” (disembedded from public scrutiny), extends control via digital surveillance, reproducing a national narrative of “order” at the expense of diverse voices.

Chen Jingyuan’s Agency: Reflexive Praxis and Structural Transformation

Giddens stresses agents’ reflexivity: knowledgeable actors monitor and alter structures through routine practices. Chen’s Prison Blood Letter exemplifies this: invoking Gödel’s incompleteness to reflexively acknowledge cognitive limits, he deploys SOC theory—positing posts as harmless “micro-disturbances” amid judicial overreach’s cascade—as a routine academic practice to challenge the structure. His vow of “life without end, struggle without cease” and lifelong accountability for his accusers is reflexive agency: monitoring the unintended consequences of injustice (e.g., eroded legitimacy), he transforms personal routine (scholarly inquiry) into transformative praxis, calling for open discourse, measured justice, and wisdom over sycophancy.

This duality shines: Chen’s action reproduces scholarly norms (e.g., evidence-based critique) while altering the structure—blood letter dissemination via networks disembed his voice, extending time-space influence beyond prison walls, fostering potential societal reflexivity.

The Verdict: Duality’s Tension, a Call for Reflexive Reform

Giddens’s structuration indicts the Chen case as a lopsided duality: the judicial structure constrains without reciprocity, reproducing power asymmetries that stifle agency. The charges, unmoored from impact, exemplify unintended rigidity, fracturing social cohesion. Yet, Chen’s reflexive resistance restores balance: a knowledgeable agent transforming constraint into change, embodying structuration’s emancipatory promise. The case is not structural determinism, but a summons to reflexive law—where rules enable diverse routines, and agents co-create just horizons. In this best of structured worlds, Chen’s praxis endures: a scholar’s duality, weaving agency into the fabric of reform.