A “Post-Copenhagen” Analysis of China’s Securitization of the Uyghur

A Counterproductive Securitization

Bibliographic Data

ID8083499
AuthorsChristopher Baker‐Beall (0000-0003-4641-4463, corresponding author), Robert L Clark (0000-0003-2947-2987)
Year2021
Volume17
Issue4
Pages427-454
Publication date2021-10-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDemocracy and Security (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1555-5860 • E-ISSN: 1741-9166
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17419166.2021.2020037
OpenAlexW4200503931
LanguageEN
Citations received8

This article adopts a post-Copenhagen approach to securitization theory in order to critically analyze the security policies developed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that have targeted the Uyghur community in Xinjiang province. The article explores the relationship between the language of security and threat, which has been invoked by the PRC leadership, and its role in justifying every-day and exceptional security practices that have been enacted against the Uyghurs since the start of the 1990s. The article makes two important claims. First, the article argues that the securitization of the Uyghur has proved counter-productive, potentially creating the very security threat that the securitization of an issue is supposed to prevent. Second, the article suggests that the role of various audiences, both domestic and international, even in an authoritarian or illiberal state like China, play a key role in the securitization process and the legitimization of the security measures that have been enacted against the Uyghur community

Authoritarianism · Business · China · Democracy · Financial system · International community · Political science · Politics · Securitization · Sociology · State (computer science · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · China's Ethnic Minorities and Relations · Global Security and Public Health · Law

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