The Chinese state may spend more funds on internal security and surveillance than on traditional military forces. A key part of this security apparatus is the separate digital ecosystem, which the government closely censors and surveilles. In this talk, Smallman will examine how China has censored health related topics from SARS in 2003 through the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The article finds support for Margaret Robert’s argument that China’s government does not need to maintain absolute censorship, but rather only to increase the costs of posting and accessing critical information sufficiently so that most citizens will not do so. COVID-19 reveals that the Chinese states’ capacity for censorship often surpasses that of Chinese activists’ to evade authorities, despite the emergence of new technologies such as the blockchain
Shawn Smallman is a faculty member in the department of Politics and Global Affairs at Portland State University. Smallman’s first book, Fear and Memory in the Brazilian Military and Society, 1889-1954, examined military terror and corruption in Brazilian history. He then wrote The AIDS Pandemic in Latin America, which was based on research in southern Mexico, Cuba and Brazil. During his fieldwork he interviewed drug traffickers, crack addicts, sex workers, doctors, and community leaders. More recently, he has co-authored a textbook, An Introduction to International and Global Studies with Professor Kim Brown, which is currently entering its third edition. He has also published a book on Indigenous religion and history titled: Dangerous Spirits: the Windigo in Myth in History. Smallman has a particular interest in conspiracy theories, and has written multiple articles discussing these narratives related to epidemics such as Zika and Ebola. More recently, Smallman has been doing fieldwork related to the 1918 influenza pandemic in China.
Thursday, May 1
4 - 5 pm
Parson's Gallery