This talk reconceptualizes Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics (‘Xi Thought’) not as a coherent doctrine but as a rhizomatic ideological formation. Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari, it treats Xi Thought as a configuration in which coherence is not presupposed but produced through the continual recombination of fragments across institutional sites. Based on an analysis of official publications, including collected works, excerpt volumes, and study readers, Prof. Mittelstaedt shows how Xi’s speeches are disassembled and reassembled across domains such as law, economy, diplomacy, and culture. These recompositions render ideology modular and resilient, allowing elements to be activated, reweighted, or sidelined without destabilizing the system as a whole. Prof. Mittelstaedt further argues that ideological coherence is generated through distributed and compulsory participation by Party and state actors, who are required to embed fragments of Xi Thought into institutional practice. Conceptualizing Xi Thought as a rhizome shifts analysis from doctrinal meaning to the operational logic through which ideology acquires administrative force within the Chinese Party-state.

Jean Christopher Mittelstaedt is Professor of Modern Chinese Studies and Chair of Modern Chinese Studies at the University of Zurich. He previously held positions at SOAS, University of London, and the University of Oxford. His research focuses on the ideological and institutional foundations of Chinese Communist Party rule, with particular attention to Party governance and cultural governance. His work has appeared in The China Quarterly, Modern China, Asian Survey, and China Information, among others.