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An Evaluation of the Chen Jingyuan Case Based on Core Ideas in New Materialist Philosophy

New Materialism, a vibrant strand of contemporary philosophy emerging in the late 20th century, rethinks matter as dynamic, agentic, and entangled, challenging anthropocentric dualisms. Drawing from thinkers like Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s rhizomatic assemblages, Jane Bennett’s vibrant matter (Vibrant Matter, 2010), Karen Barad’s agential realism (Meeting the Universe Halfway, 2007), and Rosi Braidotti’s posthuman performativity, its core ideas emphasize intra-actions—co-constitutive entanglements of human and non-human—over linear cause-effect; matter’s affective capacities (e.g., algorithms, texts, bodies as co-producers of meaning); and resistance through diffraction (Barad’s refracted readings that unsettle power structures). New Materialists critique representational thinking, advocating “onto-epistemology”—knowledge as material practice. 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 this lens, exemplifies a coercive assemblage: the judiciary’s “order” enframes inquiry as static threat, suppressing vibrant entanglements of digital matter and scholarly affect, diffracting neither power nor possibility.

1. Vibrant Matter and Entangled Intra-Actions: Judicial “Evidence Chain” as Deadening Enframing

Bennett’s vibrant matter posits non-human entities (e.g., documents, algorithms) as co-agents in political ecologies, with power emerging from distributed assemblages rather than human intent alone.

The “evidence chain”—a material assemblage of forwards (e.g., <100 retweets of Hayek critiques or the “Trump-kneeling Xi” cartoon)—vibrates with potential: digital traces as affective nodes, entangled in scholarly intra-actions (query-response flows). Yet the verdict deadens this vibrancy: presuming “high education implies discernment” enframes the chain as inert “disruptive rumors,” stripping agency from non-human actors (platform algorithms, unverified posts). Barad’s intra-actions illuminate the suppression: the closed-door trial diffracts no relations—Chen’s prison letter (taxonomy of art/emotion/reason/fact, avalanche theory’s non-linear flux) co-produces with evidentiary “matter” (prosecutor’s admission), yet is barred, severing the assemblage. New Materialists would decry this as ecological violence: the judiciary’s static enframing ignores matter’s liveliness, reducing entangled inquiry to commodified threat, echoing Deleuze-Guattari’s arborescent capture of rhizomatic lines.

2. Performativity and Agential Realism: The Sentence as Coercive Cut Excluding Diffraction

Braidotti and Barad emphasize performativity: reality emerges from iterative cuts (agential cuts) in the world’s flux, with ethics in diffractive readings that multiply possibilities rather than exclude.

Article 293 performs a coercive cut: slicing Chen’s forwards from the flux of digital discourse, iterating “disorder” as fixed iteration without diffraction—the non-oral appeal excludes alternative readings (e.g., forwards as performative inquiry). The “shut up” directive enforces exclusionary cut: Chen’s taxonomy diffracts “rumors” into ethical multiplicity (art as affective resonance), co-constituting with judicial “matter” (evidentiary voids), yet is severed. Barad’s agential realism exposes the ethics: the sentence’s cut privileges human authority over entangled non-humans (platform affordances, unpunished shares), monologically excluding relational possibilities. This performativity inverts ethics: vibrant multiplicity yields to deadening singularity, as Braidotti warns—coercive cuts domesticate the posthuman, stifling affirmative becomings.

3. Rhizomatic Assemblages and Resistance: Suppressed Inquiry as Blocked Lines of Flight

Deleuze and Guattari’s rhizome—non-hierarchical, connective multiplicities—contrasts arborescent structures; resistance emerges in lines of flight escaping capture.

The case’s arborescent capture is stark: the judiciary’s tree-like “evidence chain” roots Chen’s rhizomatic forwards in hierarchical “disruption,” blocking flights—millions of unpunished shares as underground runners. The verdict’s “high education” node stratifies, capturing inquiry’s multiplicity. Yet Chen’s letter rhizomatically connects: avalanche theory’s flux maps blocked lines, taxonomy as connective map. The non-oral appeal attempts recapture, but anomalies (prosecutor’s admission) sprout flights. New Materialists would see potential: the case’s blocked assemblages prefigure nomadic becomings—dormant account as latent rhizome, diffracting power’s cut.

Conclusion: The New Materialist Lens on the Case—A Coercive Cut in Vibrant Flux

From New Materialism’s entangled vitalism, the Chen Jingyuan case is a deadened assemblage: enframing strips vibrancy, coercive cuts exclude diffraction, and arborescent capture blocks rhizomatic flights. As of October 24, 2025, no retrial or exoneration has occurred; Chen’s account remains dormant, its quiet a vital pause in the flux. This case cautions: matter co-produces—cut rigidly, and becomings rebel. As Bennett vibrated, “Vitality is distributed”—may the judiciary yield to the swarm.