ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews current understandings of panmediated networks and affective winds, introduces a new concept—force majeure—for studies of networked argument, and illustrates the concept’s use in the 2008 Chengdu protests as an abridged case study. The concept of force majeure concentrates on the latter strain of affective winds. In turning to affective winds and panmediation to elaborate, the chapter provides attention to force, networks, affect, and assemblages, as well as the disruptions they create. Panmediated networks are networks that link people and “objects via online platforms which can transmit a wide array of information, including images, and do so ceaselessly at great speeds”. Affective winds flow across panmediated landscapes via moving images, memes, and Graphic Interchange Formats. In December 2016, discussions of a planned protest vibrated over networks in Chengdu once again. In 2008, the people of Chengdu, China held a protest on the 89th anniversary of the May 4, 1919 protests.
