Demystifying the Chinese Social Credit System - Orwellian or Something Else?
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This thesis aims to examine the Chinese Social Credit System (SCS), 社会信用体系, that is currently in its pilot phase and is planned to go into full operation in 2020. The Chinese state have called it a modern method of economic and social governance that utilizes trust-related laws and regulations, trust monitoring, a rewards and punishments system, and a trust culture amongst many others. The program has drawn immense flak from mainstream Western media with parallels being drawn to a totalitarian surveillance system that monitors every aspect of one’s life such as the ones in George Orwell’s book 1984 or recent Netflix series Black Mirror’s Nosedive episode. This thesis thus seeks to add to existing scholarship by challenging the mainstream media perception of the SCS, offering an updated take on the Chinese Social Credit System and proposing projections on its future. Analysis indicates that the SCS is much more than a tool of political oppression, but a complex series of efforts aimed at overhauling the social, economic and political landscape of China with broad sweeping implications for Chinese society and potentially the world. However, achieving the intended goal of a nationwide SCS by 2020 is unlikely and in its present state, the system is more Kafkaesque – fragmented, poorly-operating and potentially error filled – than Orwellian.
Description
Type of resource | text |
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Date created | August 2019 |
Creators/Contributors
Author | Wong, Shi Rui | |
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Degree granting institution | Stanford University, Stanford Global Studies, Center for East Asian Studies | |
Primary advisor | Walder, Andrew |
Subjects
Subject | Stanford Global Studies |
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Subject | East Asian Studies |
Subject | Social Credit System |
Subject | Social Control |
Subject | Credit |
Subject | Trust |
Subject | China |
Subject | East Asia |
Subject | Asia |
Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
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- Use and reproduction
- User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Wong, Shi Rui. (2019). Demystifying the Chinese Social Credit System - Orwellian or Something Else?. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/zz813fb8545
Collection
Stanford Center for East Asian Studies Thesis Collection
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- Contact
- wongsr@alumni.stanford.edu
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