Black or Fifty Shades of Grey? The Power and Limits of the Social Credit Blacklist System in China

Author(s)

Alexander Trauth-Goik, Chuncheng Liu

Abstract

Punishment from the state can rely on formal state apparatuses, but also the mobilization and co-option of the deviant’s own social connections to enhance the power of social control. This study utilizes a mixed-method design based on 30 interviews and a national survey to examine how such ‘relational punishment’ operates in China today as part of the nation-wide Social Credit Blacklist System. The authors first trace the history of blacklisting as a governance tool. The article then illustrates how the state’s symbolic campaign encourages the ostracization of blacklisted people. However, this power has its limits. People commonly differentiate the character of blacklisted people with contextual and relational information, constructing alternative meanings for individuals thus labelled, therefore undermining the reach and influence of the Blacklist System.

Organisation(s)

Department of East Asian Studies

External organisation(s)

University of California, San Diego

Journal

Journal of Contemporary China

Volume

32

Pages

1017-1033

No. of pages

17

ISSN

1067-0564

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2022.2128638

Publication date

09-2022

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

602045 Sinology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geography, Planning and Development, Development, Political Science and International Relations

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/black-or-fifty-shades-of-grey-the-power-and-limits-of-the-social-credit-blacklist-system-in-china(9e9d98f3-27e4-4742-8bf1-6da9a007cc55).html