@inbook {25327,
	title = {\&$\#$39;Life is Wonderful because of the Military\&$\#$39;: PLA Recruitment Campaigns in Contemporary China},
	booktitle = {In: Propaganda and Public Relations in Military Recruitment: Promoting Military Service in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries, edited by Brendan Maartens and Tom Bivins, 178-191},
	year = {2020},
	publisher = {Routledge},
	organization = {Routledge},
	address = {London},
	abstract = {This chapter examines recruitment campaigns for the Chinese military under the current leadership of Xi Jinping (2012-) in the context of China{\textquoteright}s attempts to modernize and professionalize its army. The discussion reviews the conscription challenges the People{\textquoteright}s Liberation Army (PLA) faces in the 2000s and the steps undertaken to address these challenges, particularly in the media. Drawing on the analysis of conscription videos produced in 2013-18, and of government, military and media publications in China, the chapter explores the forms and content of PLA video ads, with a focus on the messages they use to attract the military{\textquoteright}s target population. The analysis shows that alongside traditional appeals to recruits{\textquoteright} sense of patriotism and collective duty, the PLA{\textquoteright}s contemporary ads also promote military service as a vehicle for self-fulfilment and personal development. Disseminated through social media sites, this new marketing message attests to the PLA{\textquoteright}s ability to adapt and innovate. However, it also carries considerable risks for its recruitment goals as well as its public standing in China.},
	author = {Naftali, Orna}
}
