Jin Jun: Producing "Legibility": Population Management in a Police Station
Producing "Legibility": Population Management in a Police Station
Journal of Social Development, 2022 Issue 2
[Abstract]
While the key to population management is to make the populace legible to the state, increasing social mobility since the Reform has significantly hindered this effort. Based on the fieldwork of a police station in northwestern China, this paper illustrates how a new population management system, the so-called "Yibiao Sanshi" can make every resident visible again to the state by combining data on building, residency, business, and individual mobility. In addition to acquiring the location and movement of any resident, this new system can also further penetrate deeply into private life, indicating an ongoing transformation of the relationship between the state and individuals in contemporary China.
