China and the techno-authoritarian narrative

In a podcast taped live for the Asia Society of Switzerland in Zurich, Kaiser is joined by Kristin Shi-Kupfer, director of the Research Area on Public Policy and Society at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) in Berlin, and Evgeny Morozov, contributing editor at the New Republic and author of The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom and To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism. They discuss the shifting narratives about the relationship between technology and authoritarian politics, and how these shifts have been affected by China’s rise as a technology power. 

6:48: What we got wrong about China’s censorship regime

15:28: Was the internet ever meant to set us free?

25:20: Two competing visions for the internet

39:55: The role of the private sector versus the state

51:42: What role does the internet play in society?

Recommendations:

Kristin: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms podcast. 

Evgeny: An essay in the most recent version of the New Left Review, Automation and the future of work—1, by Aaron Benanav. 

Kaiser: The audiobook version of A Hero Born: The Definitive Edition (The Legend of the Condor Heroes, volume 1), authored by Jin Yong and translated by Anna Holmwood.

This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.

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