Background
Security is often ubiquitous in totalitarian regimes. This applies also to the People’s Republic of China, where the current Xi Jinping administration has expressed a growing appetite for control over civil society as well as growing global ambitions. Consequently, Chinese security politics affects immeasurable number of people not only within but also without Chinese borders. Understanding the workings of security in China is therefore of utmost importance for academic as well as ethical-political reasons. It is, in essence, a matter of good society.
In spite of its gravity, however, the subject remains understudied. Academic study of Chinese security politics has largely focused on the traditional domains of military and national security, whilst studies on non-traditional security have centered on liberal democratic regimes. Moreover, the secretive nature of Chinese security machinery restricts our access to such knowledge. As a result, our knowledge of the workings of security in China at large is lacking.
Goal
The Security in China research consortium addresses precisely the above-mentioned lacuna. More substantively, the consortium studies concepts, technologies, and practices of security in the contemporary PRC through three work packages:
1) Conceptual history of Chinese national security;
2) Logics of online censorship and propaganda;
3) Practices of Chinese security experts in the context of internal migration, and climate and energy security.
The work packages cater to the basic premise of the project: Security is what security does. Its meaning is neither timeless nor cast in stone. Starting from this vantage point, the project investigates what security does in the high politics of the party-state; in online environments; and in the quotidian practices of security professionals. Together the work packages yield knowledge on the workings and logics of security in non-traditional contexts.
The results will be reported in a number of articles, a monograph, and an edited volume – all by state-of-the-art academic publishers.
Impact
In the most basic terms, the net gain of the project is an improved and more nuanced understanding of China and its politics. It is a complex social world, not a monolith. And with Beijing’s growing domestic and global ambitions, understanding this complexity is vital. Indeed, understanding how security functions in the contemporary PRC at large is important at the level of both individuals’ daily interactions as well as state diplomacy.
Funding
The consortium enjoys the Academy of Finland project funding for early career researchers for the duration of 2019-2023 (decision # 323704).
Partners and co-operators
The consortium is a collaborative undertaking by Tampere University and the University of Turku (Centre for East Asian Studies, CEAS). The extended group of collaborators includes researchers from around Europe.