The nation’s third body: Shein’s paradox between performed nationhood and transnational operations

The intensifying global tariff tensions are reshaping the operations of cross-border e-commerce platforms. This study examines Shein, a Chinese-origin e-commerce platform with global reach, to explore nationhood and transnational operations amid emerging tensions through a communication lens. Conducting Shein as a case study, this paper draws on the nation’s two bodies to conceptualize the third body as a distinct form of nationhood in the platform age. Findings reveal that Shein enacted a deterritorialized yet embedded nationhood, performing through logistical sovereignty, digital infrastructure, and transnational governance. These dimensions indicate that the third body provides insight into how state power can remain invisible yet operate through platforms. This paper concludes with implications for future research on the infrastructural turn of platforms in today’s global ambivalent moment.