Description
Recent developments in the People's Republic of China which include the utilization of latest developments in modern technologies (like AI and big data for managing population, monitoring of citizens’ activities on social networks, dystopian project of the “social credit” aimed at producing obedient citizens) signify the importance of technology-based practices at the large scale of nation-wide politics in the most populous country in the world. Using the technological developments for controlling but also re-crafting the character of China’s political regime shows China’s potential to be a pioneer in coining a new model of political authoritarianism which could potentially serve as a blueprint for other non-democratic regimes. Building on and connecting the well-known political science literature on political regimes (democracy and authoritarianism) with the Foucault-inspired and more dynamic notion of governance, the paper aims to disentangle China’s pioneering efforts and, more broadly, the relationship between the state and (new, emerging) governing practices when it comes to societal and regime security.
