Demystifying the Chinese Social Credit System - Orwellian or Something Else?

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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.

Type of resource	text
Date created	August 2019

Author	Wong, Shi Rui
Degree granting institution	Stanford University, Stanford Global Studies, Center for East Asian Studies
Primary advisor	Walder, Andrew

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/zz813fb8545

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License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

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

Stanford Center for East Asian Studies Thesis Collection

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