Envisioning a credit society

Social credit systems and the institutionalization of moral standards in China

Bibliographic Data

ID11268341
AuthorsJing Wang (0000-0002-7594-8539, New York University Shanghai, corresponding author), Hongmei Li (0009-0008-0342-8295, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA), Weiai Wayne Xu (0000-0002-7369-3886, University of Massachusetts Amherst), Wei Xu (0000-0002-4727-1540, University of Limerick, Ireland, UK)
Year2023
Volume45
Issue3
Pages451-470
Publication date2023-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMedia Culture & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0163-4437 • E-ISSN: 1460-3675
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/01634437221127364
OpenAlexW4306291837
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited27

China’s Social Credit System (SCS) has been widely considered a centralized surveillance project, whereas recent research found multiple scoring systems co-existing in various fields at multiple administrative levels and in diverse forms. Despite the broadened view toward the complexity of SCS, these research projects continue to focus on SCS mainly as political and digital control mechanisms. Instead, this paper is interested in the social and cultural meanings of SCS constructed in the media, both at the national and local levels. Based on the analyses of news reports since the year 2003, when the term SCS was officially coined, this paper examines the historical narratives about SCS, including its rationales, stakeholders, and intended goals/tasks. It argues that the SCS construction has been a societal project anchored in a distinct moral orientation of financial credit. While credit systems are often used to classify consumers and financial subjects in Western contexts, the case of Chinese SCS shows that the moral dimension of financial credit scoring has enabled its spread into other non-financial domains. Also, the institutionalization of such moral standards is considered an effective approach to addressing various socio-economic and ethical issues that have long baffled economic development and social justice in China’s reform era

China · Dimension (graph theory · Economics · Institutionalisation · Political science · Politics · Sociology · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Economic Issues in Ukraine · Interdisciplinary Studies and Sociocultural Dynamics · Law · Finance