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An Evaluation of the Chen Jingyuan Case Based on Rosi Braidotti’s Core Ideas in New Materialist Philosophy

Rosi Braidotti (1955-), a nomadic feminist philosopher and pioneer of posthumanism, reconceives subjectivity in Nomadic Subjects (1994) and The Posthuman (2013) as fluid, affirmative becomings rather than fixed essences. Her core ideas in New Materialism emphasize zoe—life’s generative, affirmative force—over bios (human-centric order); nomadic ethics of multiplicity, where agency emerges from relational entanglements and “rhizomatic” connections (Deleuze-Guattari inspired); and post-anthropocentric performativity, critiquing phallogocentric structures that stratify bodies and knowledges, advocating “generative” resistance through diffractive readings that amplify differences for ethical co-becoming. Braidotti urges an ecology of practices where vital matter (human and non-human) co-produces justice, rejecting mastery for affirmative vulnerability. The Chen Jingyuan case—a doctoral scholar sentenced to 20 months for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” (PRC Criminal Law Article 293) over Twitter forwards—through Braidotti’s lens, exemplifies phallogocentric stratification: the judiciary’s rigid “order” territorializes nomadic inquiry into stratified “threats,” suppressing zoe’s multiplicity and ethical becomings, flattening vital entanglements into coercive stasis.

1. Nomadic Subjectivity and Multiplicity: Judicial Territorialization as Suppression of Fluid Becomings

Braidotti’s nomadic subjects are relational becomings—fluid identities co-emerging through affirmative encounters—resisting stratified identities that fix difference into hierarchy.

The verdict territorializes Chen’s nomadic becomings: his forwards (e.g., <100 retweets of Hayek critiques or the “Trump-kneeling Xi” cartoon) as rhizomatic multiplicities—entangled scholarly encounters with global knowledges—are stratified into singular “disruptive” identity, the “high education implies discernment” apparatus fixing fluidity into phallic “intent.” The closed-door trial enforces this capture: Chen’s prison letter, nomadic in its diffractive taxonomy (art/emotion/reason/fact) and avalanche theory’s non-linear zoe, is territorialized as “resistance,” denying affirmative multiplicity. Braidotti would critique this as posthuman violence: the judiciary’s plane of organization stratifies vital becomings, echoing her call for nomadic ethics—selective enforcement (millions unpunished) exposes the hierarchy’s fragility, yet suppresses co-emergent possibilities, flattening the subject’s generative flux.

2. Vital Materialism and Zoe: The “Evidence Chain” as Deadening Stratification of Affective Entanglements

Braidotti’s zoe celebrates life’s affirmative vitality—entangled material-discursive forces co-producing agency—over anthropocentric bios, urging ethical responsiveness to non-human affects.

The “evidence chain” deadens this zoe: non-human actors (digital platforms, unverified posts) as affective entanglements in Chen’s inquiry are stratified into inert “threat-reserves,” the prosecutor’s unverified admission—a vibrant crack in the chain—dismissed without responsiveness. The non-oral appeal stratifies further: Chen’s theory, zoe-infused with flux’s affirmative becoming, is captured in bios’s rigid “disorder.” Braidotti’s vital ecology exposes the ethics: the sentence’s 20 months territorializes human-non-human co-production (scholarly-digital mesh), denying affirmative vulnerability—evidentiary voids diffract zoe’s persistence, yet the apparatus flattens it, as in her nomadic feminism: phallogocentric cuts domesticate life’s force, risking ethical collapse without generative attunement.

3. Post-Anthropocentric Performativity and Generative Resistance: The Case as Blocked Lines of Affirmative Becoming

Braidotti’s performativity refracts through differences for ethical multiplicity, generative resistance amplifying zoe’s becomings against stratified capture.

The verdict blocks this performativity: the “shut up” directive cuts affirmative lines—Chen’s taxonomy diffracts “rumors” into ethical multiplicities—territorializing resistance into stasis. Yet anomalies (zero ripple) generate diffractive potential: the dormant account as latent nomadic line, posthuman in its quiet becoming. Braidotti would see utopian zoe: the case’s strata crack under affirmative pressure, echoing The Posthuman’s call—co-becoming demands ethical refraction, not capture.

Conclusion: Braidotti’s Lens on the Case—A Stratified Zoe Yearning for Nomadic Affirmation

From Rosi Braidotti’s nomadic vitalism, the Chen Jingyuan case is a territorialized flux: nomadic becomings stratified, zoe deadened in entanglements, and performativity blocked in affirmative cuts. As of October 24, 2025, no retrial or exoneration has occurred; Chen’s account remains dormant, its quiet a generative pause in the becoming. This case cautions: multiplicity resists—stratify, and zoe diffracts. As Braidotti nomadized, “Affirm life in its multiplicity”—may inquiry’s lines yet roam free.