CC BY
12DOI: 10.46991/JOPS/2023.2.4.158
Taylor, Monique. 2022. China's Digital Authoritarianism. Politics And Development Of Contemporary China. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. Xvii, 169 Pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-
11252-2.
Review by:
Vache Kalashyan* Yerevan State University
Abstract
This book examines the problem of modern Chinese digital authoritarianism, as well as the key global process of modern development, covering various areas of public life. The characteristic features of the global and regional trends in the digitalization of society are identified and described, which modernize the task of adapting political regimes to new network conditions both in China and in other authoritarian countries. This, in turn, raises the question of the need for a comprehensive comparative analysis of cases of legitimation of different political regimes in order to develop a package of recommendations for the effective transformation of the modern Chinese political regime. The most difficult scientific problem is, first of all, the definition of deep transformations of social and political reality under the pressure of forced digitalization. other problems actualize the chosen research topic: the risks and threats of information wars, politicized fakes, attempts to distort historical memory, which can trigger the processes of delegitimization of the political regime. At the same time, digitalization gives political regimes additional prospects in terms of the use of social networks by government bodies, the transformation of communication models of the ruling parties.
China's digital technologies are research topics in political science and international relations that affect the quality and effectiveness of governance. In this regard, time and reflective ways of theorizing about digital technologies in international relations are important. The author focuses on the analysis of the role of technological continuity and changes in China, which today has practically no proven approaches to studying the impact of digitalization and big data on international relations.
Keywords: Chinese politics, internet governance, digital authoritarianism, cyber sovereignty, cyberspace, great firewall, cyber policy, Chinese dream.
* Vache Kalashyan is a PhD in Political Sciences, Associate Professor of the Chair of Public Administration of the Faculty of International Relations at Yerevan State University. Email: [email protected]. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1691-0509. Journal of Political Science: Bulletin of Yerevan University, Vol. 2 (1(4)), May Received: 25.04.2023
2023. Pp. 158-162 ' Revised: 05.05.2023
i(cc| © © 1 Accepted: 07.05.2023
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 © The Author(s) 2023 international License.
This book addresses the problem of China's digital authoritarianism, as in modern China, digitalization is a long process of transition to digital technologies, spanning several decades, but in recent years there has been a process of accelerated digitalization. International relations are rapidly transforming through digital transformation and integration. In international relations theories, approaches are being developed to rethink the relationship between digital technologies and such concepts as strength or power, diplomacy, security and global order.
The modernization of Chinese society is a complex, dynamic, contradictory process of economic, political, social and cultural transformation, accompanied by increasing differentiation, universalization and rationalization in all areas of public administration. In the modern knowledge society, it has become obvious that simply borrowing Western technologies, cultural models, institutions, in itself cannot guarantee successful modernization. The most important factor in stable social, economic, political and cultural development is taking into account the social and cultural characteristics of the region. In this context, the purpose of the book is to comprehensively analyze and conceptualize the legitimation technologies of China's political regime, to comprehend the possibility of optimizing them in relation to the conditions of the digitalization process. At the same time, the coronavirus pandemic, which slowed down overall economic growth, even became a trigger for the development of communication technologies. However, the process of penetration of a computer or telephone into all spheres of human and social life began much earlier, in the middle of the last century. It is already obvious that digitalization is changing not only the economy, but also the public and political sphere. At the new round of modernization, tradition is not opposed to modernity, but, on the contrary, becomes its essential element. The traditional spiritual culture of China plays a backbone role in the process of modernization of Chinese society at the present stage.
Citizens get the opportunity to participate electronically in monitoring the actions of the authorities through special digital platforms and applications. True, on the other hand, forced digitalization does not at all exclude the creation of entire 'panopticons' on the basis of a number of political regimes, within which flexible technologies for manipulating consciousness will be practiced, as well as establishing a procedure for mutual surveillance. Thus, the digitalization process is a kind of civilizational fork, creating both cyber-optimistic and cyber-pessimistic scenarios for political regimes. So far, the central and most discussed environment for the application of digital technologies in relation to social processes remains the economy, that is, electronic payment systems, Internet commerce, online banking, cyber-physical systems, digital communications, etc. (Taylor 2022, 87-109). At the same time, China's politics are also becoming heavily digitized. First, it is important to consider how actively digital technologies are used in the development and implementation of political decisions. Secondly, to determine the degree of influence of digitalization, this main direction of innovative development and the global social and technological process, on politics itself as a sphere of public activity. Third, to identify how digital technologies are used to study political processes. There is a growing number of studies on the modalities of using digital technologies in the political process, political communication and public administration.
Two conditional political digital discourses can be distinguished: the digitalization of politics, which is related to the spread of digital technologies to political relations, and the politics of digitalization. It seems that the second discourse is more related to domestic politics (issues of cryptocurrency regulation, cybersecurity, the use of electronic digital signature, etc.), however, at the international level, the level of individual unions, blocs of states, at the global level, political issues of the global and regional development of the digital sphere (Taylor 2022, 1-24, 45-61).
The deeper the processes of modernization spread in Chinese society, the stronger the need to change the authoritarian regime becomes apparent. Therefore, the book assumes that the possibility of changes in the political regime of China under the influence of transformations in the individual and public consciousness is not ruled out. Although the Communist Party is proving its effectiveness so far by continuously adjusting the methods of leadership, as well as continuously improving the conceptual justification for the reforms being carried out. New ideas are formed in the process of practice, arise in response to new challenges of the time. Their legitimacy is ethically and scientifically substantiated. An important role is played by the appeal to tradition, as well as to Western teachings, especially Marxism.
The main focus of our attention was drawn to the conceptual level of digital modernization, the core of which is the theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. The presence of such a core is necessary, because without it the ideology disappears, having lost its connection with a high axiological justification. In the theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, such a role is played by the concept of the comprehensive construction of a moderately prosperous society and the concept of building a harmonious society. Moreover, the above concepts are not mutually exclusive or replacing each other, but rather complementary. Their internal relationship is due to the need for co-evolution of the economic and social indicators of Chinese society. It is obvious that the digitalization of China's policy can give rise to challenges not only at the national, but also at the international and global levels. At the same time, digitalization as a development tool is called upon and allows solving the problems of global, regional and national development, including political ones. Finally, the introduction of digital technologies in various spheres of human life, society and states requires a successful solution. Thus, the problems of global digital development appear to be a three-dimensional complex that requires study for systematization in terms of the genesis and danger of individual problems.
Comparison of the current situation of China's digital modernization process shows the incompleteness of economic, political, and social modernization. Another difference is the presence of a powerful ideological and theoretical dimension of the modernization of Chinese society.
The authoritarian regime of China and other countries, despite the introduction of modern digital technologies, still uses the principles of political codes with binary archetypal meanings (friend/foe, order/chaos, light/darkness, center/periphery) as the basis of their legitimation practices. It is noteworthy that in the context of digitalization, this pre-digital archaic practice begins to be flexibly combined with the typically technical principles of gatekeeping of the binary network logic of including or excluding a participant with certain values in the communication process. Technocracy
and humanitarian-oriented expertocracy actively participate in this process. Digitization contributes to the fact that power begins to resemble an algorithm. Algorithmically oriented power determines to a person what is important for him and what is not important, what information he has the right to and what not. Panopticism becomes even less noticeable, but also continues to control the behavior of users, punishing them for violations of communication ethics. Those groups that gain access to algorithms acquire political power in modern conditions. The algorithmization of power is best seen on the example of smart city projects.
The legitimation of China's authoritarian regime through the digitalization of the The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is carried out with the aim of socializing the closest representatives of the elite to citizens (Taylor 2022, 25-44). The digitalization process of the CCP is carried out mainly through the development of party network communities, in the life cycle of which the regularity of publics, comments, reposts and likes, which are a digitized version of support for the party's core electorate, is of great importance (Taylor 2022, 63-85). The increasing digitization of the image of the party leader and brand, the symbols of the party itself can also serve as a marker of the digitalization of the party: a) creating digital platforms and communication platforms for users, b) analyzing their behavior and reactions to strengthen their own positions.
China's desire for leadership in the global and regional space attracts close attention of the international community to any internal problems in China, provoking their use for political purposes. In particular, the discussion of the national question in China has become international (Taylor 2022, 111-130). The analysis of the historical, theoretical, normative and empirical base of the study allowed the author of the book to consider digital authoritarianism through the prism of the constitutional principle of authoritarian centralism, which is the basis of the chosen model of state power organization in China (Taylor 2022, 131-135). As a result, the book formulates and systematizes the factors that characterize this model in its development, influencing the current state of Chinese constitutionalism.
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