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Aktuelle Publikationen

Maria Bondes, Genia Kostka and Wiebke Rabe publish new article in Environmental Science & Policy

Maria Bondes, Genia Kostka and Wiebke Rabe publish new article in Environmental Science & Policy titled: „ICT-based environmental participation in China: Same, same but digital?“

New book chapter by Genia Kostka on China’s rising tech power - see open Access Book on China’s Smart State

In the battle for global tech dominance, China is rapidly surpassing its Western competitors (Olsen, 2020). The country is quickly reaching global leadership in many areas of science and technology, including facial recognition, certain fields of AI and e-mobility. In this chapter, I argue that the rise is both fueled and constrained by the specific institutions of the party-state. The ‘fuel’ is the party-state’s capacity and will to lead China up the value chain thanks to massive investments. The ‘constraints’ have to do with the downside of decentralised and fragmented authoritarianism.

New publication by Xinhui Jiang, Sarah Eaton and Genia Kostka on Appointment Politics in Subnational China

While comparative research on gender and politics has produced a sizable literature on the appointment of women to cabinet positions in democracies, we know surprisingly little about appointment practices in authoritarian contexts at subnational levels. We address this gap with the resumés of 3,681 political appointees in subnational China (2003–2020). Our analysis reveals that subnational Chinese politics meets most of the criteria scholars put forward as being indicative of gendered institutions: (1) women and men's career patterns are different; (2) women are assigned to more feminine posts, while masculine posts provide more promotion opportunities; and (3) regarding backgrounds, women are younger, better educated and more likely to be ethnic minorities as a result of the implementation of tandem quotas. The findings advance the literature on gender and politics, showing that gender's effect on appointment transcends regime types and the dichotomy of national/subnational politics.

New publication by Qinglong Shao and Genia Kostka exploring digital inequalities in China

As Internet usage reshapes our societies, digital inequalities have increased over the past few decades. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries accelerated their digital transformation processes, and it is widely believed the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened existing inequalities in the digital realm. Yet, few studies have empirically examined whether digital inequalities in the labor market increased during the pandemic. This analysis studies how the COVID-19 pandemic affected Chinese workers' Internet usage and how this influence varied across socioeconomic groups. By using the ordered probit model and leveraging the most recent data from the China Family Panel Studies and the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, we find that the pandemic significantly increased the overall level of Internet usage in the country, and the mediating effects of the perceived importance of the Internet and access to the Internet are confirmed. As Internet usage increased, digital inequalities in China's labor market deepened, especially among young and wealthy workers with high social status in urban areas, while older and poorer workers in rural areas benefited less from this new ‘digital wave.’ Moreover, during the pandemic, Internet usage increased among employees working in state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which suggests a growing digital inequality gap between SOEs and other sectors. Following a series of robustness tests, our research findings remain valid. We propose a policy redesign that embodies a comprehensive long-term vision and guarantees raising the levels of Internet usage for socially and economically disadvantaged groups in China.

New publication by Genia Kostka exploring citizen scepticism of digital technology and what drives these doubting attitudes in the US, UK, China, and Germany

Governments all over the world are rapidly embracing digital technologies for information collection, governance, and social control. Recent studies suggest citizens may accept or even support digital surveillance. By using an online survey dataset on public opinion about facial recognition technology, contact tracing apps, and the social credit system in China, Germany, the US, and the UK, this article shows that these studies have overlooked a small yet significant group of digital technology doubters. Our results show that while up to 10% of Chinese citizens belong to the group of “digital doubters,” this group is the largest in Germany with 30% of citizens. The US and the UK are in the middle with approximately 20%. While citizens who belong to this group of digital doubters worry about privacy and surveillance issues, their attitudes can also be explained by them not being convinced of the benefits of digital technologies, including improved efficiency, security, or convenience. We find that the more citizens lack trust in their government, the more likely they are to belong to the group of digital doubters. Our findings demonstrate that in both democratic and authoritarian states, there are citizens opposing the adoption of certain digital technologies. This underscores the importance of initiating societal debate to determine the appropriate regulations that align with these societal preferences.

New publication of Dr. Quan Li's paper "Karl Barth, Mou Zongsan, and the Political Responsibility of the Chinese Protestant Church"

We are pleased to announce the publication of Dr. Quan Li's paper, "Karl Barth, Mou Zongsan, and the Political Responsibility of the Chinese Protestant Church," in the latest issue of JSCE, the flagship journal of the Society of Christian Ethics. We encourage colleagues and students with an interest in the interplay of religion and politics in contemporary China to explore this cross-disciplinary contribution.

New article in Changes in Prefectural Appointments from Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping (2003-2020) by Xinhui Jiang, Sarah Eaton & Genia Kostka

China’s ‘Xi-Li era’ is said to be defined by both the concentration of power in the center and the strengthening of Party authority. In this paper, we ask whether these trends have been evident in local appointment practices since Xi Jinping took office in 2013. By comparing the career histories of 3,682 prefectural mayors and Party Secretaries under the Hu-Wen and Xi-Li administrations, we find that while appointment practices have shifted, the observed changes are not wholly consistent with the center- and Party-strengthening narratives. First, developments in the Xi-Li era suggest that while provincial authorities are increasingly using prefectural appointments for their own ends, the center remains high and far away in these decisions. Second, we do not find evidence that cadres with a strong Party background have a particular advantage in the Xi period. Instead, cadres with strong track records in key functional xitong, particularly those with an economic profile, are still the most likely to attain leadership positions. These findings contribute to the current debate on the nature of power reconfigurations unfolding in Xi’s China.

New article in Regulation & Governance on emotions and compliance with COVID-19 regulations by Danqi Guo, Sabrina Habich-Sobiegalla, and Genia Kostka

This study engages with socio-legal and psychological theories on compliance and proposes an analytical framework to explore the role of different psychological factors on individual-level compliance during global health crises. Using the results of three national surveys, we argue that various negative emotional states, perceptions of the ongoing crisis, and of the institutional settings are major factors influencing individual compliance across countries. Most importantly, while increased panic, anxiety, and sadness lead to higher compliance, rising anger, loneliness, and impatience decrease compliance levels. Notably, perceptions of the COVID-19 crisis—especially health concerns and a worsening financial situation—tend to elicit anger among citizens across countries, thereby further hampering their obedience with pandemic regulations.

Vorabveröffentlichung von Sabrina Habich-Sobiegalla und H. Christoph Steinhardt "Debating Academic Autonomy in the German-Speaking Field of China Studies: An Assessment"

Geopolitical tensions between China and the West, and hardening authoritarianism in China, have sparked a debate in the German-speaking field of China Studies on how individual scholars and higher education organizations ought to position themselves and how to ensure academic autonomy. Most participants agree that the Chinese government’s increasing domestic repression and growing inclination to project state punishments abroad and onto foreign researchers are major problems for China scholarship. However, one side of the debate places China scholars and universities that collaborate with China under suspicion of self-censorship, while the other side fails to address how China scholars can maintain autonomy in an environment of increased Chinese assertiveness. The authors suggest four pathways to strengthen academic autonomy in the German-speaking China Studies field, and in the process of cooperation between other disciplines and Chinese counterparts.

New Publication by Sabrina Habich-Sobiegalla and Franziska Plümmer on Topologies of power in China’s grid-style social management during the COVID-19 pandemic

The article analyses the organization of Chinese grassroots social management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on a range of local cases researched through policy documents, media coverage and interviews, we scrutinize the appropriation of emergency measures and the utilization of grid-style social management since the outbreak of COVID-19. Grid-style social management – a new grassroots administrative division aiming to mobilize neighbourhood control and services – is a core element in China’s pursuit of economic growth without sacrificing political stability. Conceptualizing grids as confined spaces of power, we show how the Chinese party-state is able to flexibly redeploy diverse forms of power depending on the particular purpose of social management. During non-crisis times, grid-style social management primarily uses security power, casting a net over the population that remains open for population elements to contribute their share to the national economy. Once a crisis has been called, sovereign power swiftly closes the net to prevent further circulation while disciplinary power works towards a speedy return to a pre-crisis routine.

New article in Government Information Quarterly on facial recognition technology acceptance by Genia Kostka, Léa Steinacker, und Miriam Meckel

The key findings are:
- Perceptions about facial recognition technology (FRT) in public spheres vary across countries.
- FRT acceptance is positively linked to trust in government institutions and an affinity for technology.
- Awareness of a country's history of surveillance and privacy concerns lowers FRT acceptance.
- Opposition to FRT is highest if citizens believe it affects their personal privacy.
- Chinese citizens stress the benefits of FRT; German citizens call for strong regulations to address associated risks.

New Article by Habich-Sobiegalla, S and Kostka, G. : Sharing is caring: willingness to share personal data through contact tracing apps in China, Germany, and the US, in Information, Communication & Society

In this article, we study citizens’ willingness to share personal data through COVID-19 contact tracing apps (CTAs). Based on a cross-national online survey with 6,464 respondents from China, Germany, and the US, we find considerable variation in how and what data respondents are willing to share through CTAs.

New Article by Li, H. and Kostka, G. : Accepting but Not Engaging with It: Digital Participation in Local Government-Run Social Credit Systems in China, forthcoming in Policy & Internet

China’s central and municipal governments have consistently facilitated the development of social credit systems (SCSs) over the past decade. While research has highlighted the Chinese public’s high approval of and support for SCSs, their engagement with these digital projects has not been fully explored. Based on 64 semi-structured interviews, our research examines Chinese citizens’ digital participation in local government-run SCSs. Our findings suggest that, despite perceiving SCSs as accepting and positive, most interviewees do not actively engage with local government-run SCSs. Multiple factors can explain the gap between high acceptance and low participation, including a lack of awareness regarding local SCSs, a perception that registering and maintaining a decent credit score requires major effort, various concerns over SCSs (e.g., information privacy and safety, as well as algorithm accuracy and fairness), clarity of rules and guidelines, potential risks, unappealing benefits offered by SCSs, and the voluntariness of participating in local SCSs. Our research adds to the existing literature on digital governance in authoritarian contexts by explaining why Chinese citizens do not necessarily engage with state-promoted digital projects.

Publication of the dissertation by Yaroslav Akimov: "Conceptualisations of Death, Illness, and the Body in Chinese Euphemisms: A Survey of Sensitive Vocabulary in Modern Chinese Lexicography" (Supervisor: Prof. A. Guder / Prof. A. Gerstenberg)

The project on conventional Chinese euphemisms aims to contribute to the universal typology of euphemistic expressions. Since Chinese is greatly divergent in its typological characteristics from languages traditionally involved in the studies of sensitive vocabulary, the inclusion of Mandarin Chinese linguistic evidence in the general discussion of euphemisms can enhance our understanding of how languages deal with taboo entities.

New publication in Review of International Political Economy by Wiebke Rabe and Genia Kostka

Focusing on Chinese investments in mobile payment platforms (CIM), this article explains citizens’ levels of approval of Chinese outward investments in the digital economy.

New work by Xinhui Jiang explaining variation in women's subnational representation in China from the China Quarterly

Women are underrepresented in legislature almost worldwide, and China is no exception. Although the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) implemented its first gender quota in 1933, gender quotas and women's representation in China remain understudied. This study fills the literature gap by examining the subnational variation in gender quota implementation and women's representation in the county-level people's congresses (CPC). Through a comparison of four county-level units in Hunan and Hubei with similar socioeconomic features yet contrasting results in the numbers of female representatives elected in the 2016 CPC election, this study argues that women's access to CPCs is affected by the CCP's adoption and enforcement of grassroots quotas. The fieldwork shows that although all cases introduced a 30 per cent gender quota, only CPCs in Hunan province were able to meet the quota requirements. This was because the grassroots quota threshold was raised in Hunan and strictly enforced, partly as a response to the 2013 Hengyang vote-buying scandal. In contrast, CPCs in Hubei province nominated a large number of “first hands” (yibashou) candidates, very few of whom were women.

Erste Studie über die Wirklichkeiten und Möglichkeiten des Schulfachs Chinesisch in Deutschland: „Macht mehr Chinesisch!“ (Arbeitsbereich Prof. Guder)

Chinesisch ist die Sprache mit den meisten mutter­sprachlichen Sprecher:innen der Welt. Infolge der zunehmenden globalen Bedeutung Chinas hält Chinesisch seit einigen Jahrzehnten als Fremdspra­chenfach an deutschen Schulen Einzug. Das ver­gleichsweise junge Schulfach „Chinesisch“ ist aktuell in Deutschland bereits an 121 Schulen in 14 Bundes­ländern als Wahlpflichtfach etabliert – an vielen davon auch als Abiturfach. Gleichzeitig sind grundlegende Fragen zu Inhalten und Lernzielen des Fachs noch ungeklärt. Die vorliegende Studie erhebt über eine Befragung von Chinesisch-Lehrkräften an Schulen zum ersten Mal bundesweit Daten und Erfah­rungen zum Chinesischunterricht, um aus den Ergebnissen Forschungsdesiderate und Handlungs­empfehlungen für Wissenschaft und Bildungspolitik für eine intensivere fachliche Auseinandersetzung mit diesem Schulfach ableiten zu können.

New publication by Wiebke Rabe and Genia Kostka on the “Air Silk Road” between Henan Province and Luxembourg

This article traces the process behind the implementation of the “Air Silk Road,” a cargo flight connection between Luxembourg and Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province. Its origins lie in economic competition between Henan and its neighbouring provinces, dating back a decade before the official announcement of the Air Silk Road in 2017.

New publication by Xinhui Jiang, Sarah Eaton and Genia Kostka on perceptions of injustice in China’s Xin’anjiang eco-compensation program

A growing body of research highlights the decisive role that justice claims play in creating sustainable payment for ecosystem services (PES) programs. Employing Sikor et al.’s approach to the study of justice claims in ecosystem governance along three dimensions—distribution, procedure and recognition—we study the negotiation process behind China’s flagship interprovincial PES agreement: the Xin’anjiang River eco-compensation agreement between Huangshan (Anhui province) and Hangzhou (Zhejiang province) prefectures.

New study by Xinhui Jiang and Yunyun Zhou on women's substantive representation in China

While research on women's substantive representation in legislatures has proliferated, our knowledge of gender lobbying mechanisms in authoritarian regimes remains limited. Adopting a state-society interaction approach, this article addresses how women's interests are substantively represented in China despite the absence of an electoral mandate and the omnipresence of state power. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, this article maps out the intertwining of key political agents and institutions within and outside the state that mobilize for women's grievances and demands. We find that representation of women's interests in China requires the emergence of a unified societal demand followed by a coalition of state agency allies navigating within legislative, executive, and Party-affiliated institutional bodies. The pursuit of women's interests is also politically bounded and faces strong repression if the lobbying lacks state alliances or the targeted issue is considered “politically sensitive” by the government.

New paper by Jelena Große-Bley and Genia Kostka on an investigation of Smart City implementation in China

Chinese cities are increasingly using digital technologies to address urban problems and govern society. However, little is known about how this digital transition has been implemented. This study explores the introduction of digital governance in Shenzhen, one of China's most advanced smart cities.

New study by Genia Kostka, Léa Steinacker & Miriam Meckel on facial recognition technology in China, Germany, UK and US in Public Understanding of Science

How does the public perceive facial recognition technology and how much do they accept facial recognition technology in different political contexts? Our study is based on a large online surveys with 6099 respondents resembling the Internet-connected population in China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. While previous research has pointed out that facial recognition technology is an instrument for state surveillance and control, this study shows that surveillance and control are not foremost on the minds of citizens in China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, but rather notions of convenience and improved security.

New paper by Wiekbe Rabe, Genia Kostka and Sabrina Habich-Sobiegalla on infrastructure investments in China

Socio-economic development is often linked to efficient infrastructure provision. In China, the government has rolled out ambitious infrastructure projects as part of its national development strategy. There is much to praise about China’s infrastructure provision, such as its remarkable scale and speed of infrastructure delivery. However, based on studying 153 infrastructure cases between 1983 and 2018 and two in-depth case studies, we find that China’s infrastructure performance is not as positive as often assumed. We show that infrastructure projects continuously arrive significantly over budget. We argue that this cost performance depends – similar to Western countries – on inaccurately anticipating technical hindrances and geographical challenges. In addition, however, we identify another important and so far less discussed project performance determinant specifically relevant to the Chinese context: population resettlements and land acquisition.

New edited volume on "Immigration Governance in East Asia: Norm Diffusion, Politics of Identity, Citizenship" (edited by Gunter Schubert, Franziska Plümmer, and Anastasiya Bayok) with contributions by Bettina Gransow, Elena Meyer-Clement, Xiang Wang

"The Political Economy of Hydropower in Southwest China and Beyond" co-edited by Sabrina Habich-Sobiegalla

Together with Jean-François Rousseau (University of Ottawa), Sabrina Habich-Sobiegalla has edited a volume that conceptualizes the ongoing hydropower expansion in Southwest China as a socio-political and transnational project transcending the construction of dams. Chapters in this volume are organised around three sections spanning hydropower and resettlement governance, rural livelihoods, and international relations connected to China’s hydropower expansion. Dam projects of various scales are analysed as infrastructure projects that shape peoples’ livelihoods, the environment, and China’s relations with Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Prof. Genia Kostka has co-published an article “From targets to inspections: the issue of fairness in China’s environmental policy implementation” in Environmental Politics.

Together with Coraline Goron, Professor at the Environmental Research Center, Duke Kunshan University, Prof. Kostka looks at the issue of fairness in the implementation of China’s environmental and climate policy goals. The article examines two top-down mechanisms put in place to steer implementation: binding environmental targets that have been allocated on different administrative levels since the 11th Five-Year Plan in 2011; and central environmental inspections, which have been rolled out across the country since 2016. The evidence shows that the way in which both mechanisms have assigned responsibilities among localities is, by and large, inequitable. This inequity stems from not only insufficient differentiation based on economic and capacity criteria but also a discretionary approach to enforcement. These structural implementation defects affect the legitimacy of environmental planning and incentivise disgruntled local officials to either resort to drastic, costly and unfair measures to satisfy upper-level demands or to fake performance, thus undermining the sustainability of environmental protection and transition efforts.

"China’s rural urbanization and the state: Putting the countryside first?" co-authored by Elena Meyer-Clement and Jesper Willaing Zeuthen

Prof. Elena Meyer-Clement co-publishes a new special issue on “rural urbanization” in China Information, Vol. 34, No. 2, 2020. The special issue is based on the 2018 workshop of the “Modernizing Rural China” network.

More Than “Peasants Without Land”: Individualisation and Identity Formation of Landless Peasants in the Process of China’s State-Led Rural Urbanisation

Artikel von Isabel Heger im Journal of Current Chinese Affairs. In the course of state-led rural urbanisation over the past few decades, millions of Chinese peasants have been expropriated and relocated. Based on the understanding of these “landless peasants” as a heterogeneous social group connected mainly by the fact that its members had to give up their land-use rights, this article sets out to examine subsequent processes of identity formation. Drawing on Beck’s individualisation thesis, I suggest that structural and institutional changes in the process of rural modernisation have initiated a further thrust of individualisation in people’s lives which manifests not only in the objective domain of life situations but also in the subjective domain of identity. This hypothesis is substantiated through an ethnographic case study based on seven months of fieldwork (2016–2018) in Huaming Model Town in the Dongli District of Tianjin. As a first step towards conceptualising what landless peasants are becoming, I will propose to start focusing on recombinant identities and class differentiations evolving among the people.

Information, technology, and digitalization in China’s environmental governance

Prof. Kostka co-publishes a new Special Issue on “Information, technology, and digitalization in China’s environmental governance” in the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. The Special Issue is based on a conference that took place in 2018 Funded by the Volkswagen Stiftung.

Rural urbanization under Xi Jinping: From rapid community building to steady urbanization?

Article by Elena Meyer-Clement. ‘Rural community building’ is one of the most prominent policies of rural urbanization and village renovation in China. Since the nationwide implementation of this policy within the scope of the programme ‘Building a new socialist countryside’, the large-scale construction of new residential complexes has accelerated the transformation of the country’s rural landscape. However, extensive demolition and relocation have drawn increasing criticism, and the policy has become synonymous with the seizure of rural land resources by local governments. When Xi Jinping came to power, the new leadership initially appeared to abandon the policy but has eventually revived it. This article studies the implementation and evolution of the rural community building policy as a case of policy learning. The analysis of national and local policy documents and implementation practices in four provinces highlights a new framing of the policy, more intensive hierarchical controls over rural land use, and the state’s increasing reach into village governance, as well as new incentives for local governments to continue with demolition and relocation projects. These changes reveal a mode of policy learning in the context of an authoritarian regime whose goal is to improve policy implementation in the face of growing public criticism and social tension.

Piloting Away – State-Signaling and Confidence-building in China’s Renewable Energy Sector

Artikel von Sabrina Habich-Sobiegalla und Sheng-Wen Tseng im Journal of Contemporary China.
Past studies agree that the efficiency and effectiveness of policy experimentation is highly context dependent. This study examines how policy pilots are used as tools for implementing China’s energy transition and how this has produced mixed results. While pilots have effectively mobilized actors to rapidly expand renewable power generation, efforts to integrate renewable energy into power grids have been unsuccessful. The article shows that the central government uses policy pilots as an end in itself rather than as a means for future scale-up. Instead of using them as tools to bring about systemic change, the central government applies pilots as instruments of state signaling and coalition building. This promotes local protectionism and hinders coordinated efforts to achieve the envisioned sustainable energy transition.

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