Justifying the use of excessive force: A critical discourse analysis of Chinese police individual WeChat Subscription Accounts

IF 1 2区社会学 Q2 AREA STUDIES

Modern Asian Studies Pub Date : 2023-11-21 DOI:10.1017/s0026749x2300032x

Han Wang

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This article examines how individual police officers in China interpret and justify the use of excessive force on social media through their WeChat Subscription Accounts (WSAs). Existing research examines how the police department uses social media to justify deadly force, but overlooks individual officers’ online justifications. Adopting a critical discourse analysis approach, this study analyses 211 articles commenting on a prominent case of police violence in China. The findings shed light on the online voice of Chinese frontline officers, revealing an ideology that defends the use of excessive force. The articles published in WSAs displayed strong empathy towards the involved officer; contested the characterization of the incident as police brutality by police officials, the public, and the media; and employed various strategies to justify the officer’s actions. The discussion section expands on these findings by drawing comparisons to justifications in the United States, emphasizing the distinctive dynamic between individual officers’ online expression and official police discourse in China, and offering insights for scholars examining online expression and digital nationalism in the Chinese context.

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为过度使用武力辩护：对中国警察个人微信订阅账号的批判性话语分析

本文探讨了中国警察个人如何通过其微信订阅账号（WSA）在社交媒体上解释过度使用武力并为之辩解。现有研究探讨了警察部门如何利用社交媒体为使用致命武力进行辩解，但却忽略了警察个人在网上的辩解。本研究采用批判性话语分析方法，分析了 211 篇评论中国警察暴力事件的文章。研究结果揭示了中国一线警察的网络声音，揭示了为过度使用武力辩护的意识形态。在 WSA 上发表的文章对涉事警官表现出强烈的同情；对警察官员、公众和媒体将事件定性为警察暴力提出质疑；并采用各种策略为警官的行为辩护。讨论部分通过与美国的辩解进行比较，强调了中国警官个人的网络表达与官方警察言论之间的独特动态，并为研究中国背景下的网络表达和数字民族主义的学者提供了启示。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Modern Asian Studies AREA STUDIES-

CiteScore

1.60

自引率

11.10%

发文量

期刊介绍： Modern Asian Studies promotes original, innovative and rigorous research on the history, sociology, economics and culture of modern Asia. Covering South Asia, South-East Asia, China, Japan and Korea, the journal is published in six parts each year. It welcomes articles which deploy inter-disciplinary and comparative research methods. Modern Asian Studies specialises in the publication of longer monographic essays based on path-breaking new research; it also carries substantial synoptic essays which illuminate the state of the broad field in fresh ways. It contains a book review section which offers detailed analysis of important new publications in the field.