Abstract: In recent years, the Chinese lying-flat movement -- a youth countercultural phenomenon that rejects overwork and pursues a low-desire lifestyle -- has caught global attention. Combining the strong program in cultural sociology with the sociology of emotions, I reconstruct lying flat as a meaning structure organized by moral binaries and fortified by emotions. By incorporating official discourse, social media discourse, and interview data, I show that official media and lying-flat influencers present competing narratives about what is considered worthy in contemporary China. Unlike lying-flat influencers who proudly advocate the term, my interview respondents, the perceived lying-flat youth, often reject this label and embody shame when being associated with the term. The fact that “lying flat” is widely ascribed but rarely claimed shows that it operates as a symbolic boundary marker: once coded as polluted, it becomes difficult to claim without moral injury. The stigmatizing function of the “lying-flat” label reveals a conflict in the Chinese civil sphere over the moral boundaries of “good citizens.” Such moral boundary-making is regulated by internalized emotions associated with the term, which led to disidentifying counterculture: counter-normative practices spread, but identity claiming is rare.
Please note: Workshop readings are automatically available to current participants only. A link and password will be sent via email prior to the workshop.
Please do not share the link or password as we promise confidentiality to our speakers. Off- campus CCS Fellows should contact the CCS Administrator to gain access as needed.
The CCS Workshop will meet this year at 210 Prospect Street, room 203 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Coffee and tea will be served during the workshop and lunch afterwards.
