Introduction to Neijuan
The Mandarin Chinese term "neijuan," translating to "involution," is a widely used slang term describing a state of exhaustion or intense pressure. Its usage has resonated with various segments of the Chinese population, including students experiencing academic competition, parents managing social expectations, and workers performing extended shifts. This term's evolution spans academic origins to its contemporary popular and official use.
Academic Origins
The concept of "involution" first appeared in English within a 1963 academic work by American anthropologist Clifford Geertz, who observed increased labor in Indonesian agriculture yielding diminishing returns. The term subsequently circulated within academic discourse.
Scholar Philip Huang applied it in a study concerning the non-development of capitalism in 20th-century China. It also featured in a study of early 20th-century Chinese tax collectors by Prasenjit Duara, a professor at Duke University, who noted administrative inefficiencies, leading him to identify an "administrative involution."
Translation and Popularization
Duara's book, Culture, Power, and the State, was later translated into Chinese, introducing the term "neijuan." Translators combined the Mandarin words "inner" (nei) and "to curl" or "to roll" (juan), conveying a sense of internal, repetitive cycles.
The term's transition from academic use to popular slang occurred around early 2020, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. Biao Xiang, a director at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, provided a definition for "neijuan" in a 2020 interview with the Chinese outlet Sixth Tone. He characterized it as a general feeling of weariness within what he described as an "endless cycle of self-flagellation," where individuals intensify effort in competition without perceived purpose, yet cannot cease. This interview gained widespread attention, leading to "neijuan"'s adoption by the Chinese public.
Cultural and Official Adoption
In public discourse, "neijuan" is used to characterize activities perceived as unproductive or performed solely for appearance. An example illustrating this cultural phenomenon includes a video depicting a university student studying on a laptop while cycling at night, which became a widely shared meme associated with "neijuan" behavior.
The term has also entered official Chinese governmental terminology. In 2024, China's top economic official, Li Qiang, referenced "spiraling involution" to describe a prevalent issue of overcapacity and excessive competition among Chinese companies producing similar goods. Subsequently, Chinese policymakers, led by Xi Jinping, initiated an "anti-involution" campaign aimed at addressing this production overcapacity. This development marks the term's return to describing economic activity, aligning with its earlier academic applications.