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

Autor(en)

Alexander Trauth-Goik, Chuncheng Liu

Abstrakt

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(en)

Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften

Externe Organisation(en)

University of California, San Diego

Journal

Journal of Contemporary China

Band

32

Seiten

1017-1033

Anzahl der Seiten

17

ISSN

1067-0564

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2022.2128638

Publikationsdatum

09-2022

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

602045 Sinologie

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

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

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/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