Social Credit: The Warring States of China’s Emerging Data Empire
Event description
China’s Social Credit System has fundamentally re-shaped global discussions of surveillance, with references to it spread across legislation and parliamentary debates worldwide. Yet, it may also be one of the world’s most misunderstood phenomena from recent years. Drawing from over six years of empirical research, this book talk dives into the real—and fictional—impact of this infamous system on China’s society and beyond. Rather than seeing it an all-encompassing digital supersystem, this talk will discuss how even China’s government is confused about the purpose and aims of the system and fails to bring lofty ambitions come to life. However, this may amplify, rather than reduce, concerns of surveillance overreach.
About the Speaker
Vincent Brussee is a PhD Candidate at Leiden University (the Netherlands), where he specialises in the application of data science for Chinese policy analysis. He is the author of the recent book Social Credit: The Warring States of China’s Emerging Data Empire, which received critical acclaim in the leading journal China Quarterly. His work and insights have been featured extensively in international media like BBC World News, Foreign Policy, and the South China Morning Post.
The ANU China Seminar Series is supported by the Australian Centre on China in the World at ANU College of Asia and the Pacific.