As the title indicates, this edited volume combines two of the most intriguing topics in changing Chinese society: the rise of popular protests, especially in urban environments, and the political communication revolution brought about by the internet. Under the auspices of an institutional partnership between the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the department of political science at the University of Zurich, this volume arose from an international conference on “New Media, Social Capital and Urban Mobilization in China” funded by the joint programme in 2013. Among the first of its kind, this edited volume as well as the collaborative enterprise should be applauded for taking on these important issues in an internationally concerted effort.

As the editors themselves indicate in the conclusion chapter, the articles in the volume are more empirically grounded than theoretically ambitious. The many case studies in this volume cover various forms of mobilization such as environmental activism, homeowner movements, labour protest and farmer resistance. Most of these mobilizations of course relied on the internet.

The first two substantive chapters provide summaries about the use of the internet for political information in China. In chapter two, Daniela Stockmann presents an overview of Chinese internet users based on a 2008 representative survey. The author finds that the users of online political information are not limited to the Chinese middle class as conventionally speculated. Xiaokun Wu confirms in chapter three that political matters are prevalent in online forums. The findings of his content analysis of 82 selected online forums in 2012 substantiate that the internet and social media have become the major sources of political information and discussion in China.

Chapters four to seven all focus on one of the earliest and most active areas of social activism in contemporary China – the environmental realm (Peter Ho and Richard Louis Edmonds eds., China's Embedded Activism: Opportunities and Constraints of a Social Movement, Routledge, 2007). Chapter four by Bingqiang Ren, Huisheng Shou and Lisheng Dong investigates the role of the internet for mobilization. As grassroots organizations are lacking and informal networks are declining, the internet not only serves as a public sphere for deliberation and discussion but also generates new social capital for developing social network and trust. Jean Lin in chapter five focuses on the interaction between environmental protesters and the local authorities. The author highlights the different roles of protest leaders in affecting the different outcomes of similar cases. Chapter six by Simona Grano takes stock of the new action repertoire brought about by social media. Xiaoling Zhang and Gareth Shaw in chapter seven pay specific attention to middle-class residents in coastal cities. The authors argue that while middle-class urbanities are often successful in reversing the environmental decisions of the local governments in the short term, they do not aim for long-term policy change.

In chapter eight, Cole Carnesecca brings the discussion back to the role of the internet in activism. In contrast with the previous chapters, however, the author argues that the internet has become a powerful tool for providing the feedback necessary for a system of responsive authoritarianism to function effectively. The author identifies three particular forms of feedback: the spreading of viral grievances, crowd-sourced justice, and reverse surveillance.

The last two chapters are about yet two other forms of mobilization of two distinct social groups: the former employees of the restructured state-owned enterprises (the most combative social groups in China) in chapter nine by Xi Chen, and the elderly and retired people in Shanghai in chapter ten by Chunrong Liu.

As the editors indicate in the conclusion chapter, the volume does not seek to address the broader questions of the social structural roots of these mobilization processes, nor do they try to speculate on their future development. Nevertheless, the editors draw on the existing framework of resource mobilization and political opportunity structures to synthesize theoretically the findings of the various empirical cases. They argue that the rise of popular protests and activism is largely due to the new political opportunities that have opened up as the more fragmented yet flexible state and local government agencies provide more institutional spaces and resources for city residents.

However, as some of the cases in the volume demonstrate, many protest opportunities did not exist as structures or resources a priori. They were created by activists and participants by using creative strategies, or appeared in contingent interactions between the protesters and the authorities. Consequently, the dynamics and outcomes of the protests varied greatly according to the timing (chapter seven), the state agency implicated (chapters seven and ten), the social status of the protesters (chapters seven and ten), and the role of the protest leaders (chapters five and nine).

As the volume notes in conclusion, while popular protests are on the rise in China, there have been no large-scale political movements that have significantly challenged the authoritarian regime. This seems to further indicate that the “routinization” of social protests has been not only the outcome of the dynamic interaction between an increasingly flexible and adaptive state and a growingly pluralistic society, but also the means by which they do so.

The role of the internet for urban mobilization needs to be considered in the context of this dynamic view of state–society relations. The government, social organizations and individual netizens all cooperate and compete with each other on the internet. New media both serve as resources such as strategic repertoires and social capital for protesters and activists (chapter four), and provide the state with new means of social control, which limits the political impact of social contention (chapter eight).

In summary, this edited volume has achieved its modest goal in providing some interesting empirical cases to test some relevant theoretical frameworks that may potentially help understand contentious politics in contemporary China.