Powers of persuasion? China's struggle for human rights discourse power at the UN

Bibliographic Data

ID21793016
AuthorsMalin Oud (Humanitarian Institute, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume15
IssueS2
Pages85-96
Publication date2024-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGlobal Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1758-5880 • E-ISSN: 1758-5899
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1758-5899.13361
OpenAlexW4398253459
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited23

Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the People's Republic of China has been on a mission to break what it describes as ‘Western hegemony’ around global norms. Beijing is engaged in a struggle to strengthen its influence in global governance and has identified increasing China's ‘discourse power’ at the United Nations (UN) as key to achieving this goal. Focused on human rights, this paper examines China's project to enhance its discourse power at the UN. It assesses how successful Beijing has been in shaping language, concepts and norms at the UN and to what extent there has been a power shift in line with China's aspirations. It concludes that in China's efforts to enhance its power over meaning at the UN, it relies less on its powers of persuasion to effect what Barnett and Duvall term productive power and more on compulsory power. China's vision for global governance and its growing clout at the UN has great implications for international order. In essence, China seeks to reshape international norms so that human rights become each member state's ‘internal affairs’ rather than a legitimate concern of the international community

China · Human rights · Law and economics · Persuasion · Political science · Sociology · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Human Rights and Development · International Development and Aid · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access