Gallagher, A orcid.org/0000-0002-2625-7715 (2021) To name and shame or not, and if so, how? A pragmatic analysis of naming and shaming the Chinese government over mass atrocity crimes against the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. Journal of Global Security Studies, 6 (4). ogab013. ISSN 2057-3189
Abstract
Faced with crimes such as genocide there is an understandable plea for actors to name and shame the perpetrators involved. The problem is that studies show that while there are cases where this practice has a positive influence, there are many examples where it is not only ineffective, but also counterproductive as it leads to an increase in human rights violations. With this in mind, the article asks, is it right to name and shame the Chinese government over mass atrocities perpetrated against the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, and, if so, how? It uses a pragmatic approach to consider the ethical concerns that stem from this practice being used in this specific case. It draws links between the role that image and status play in two literatures: naming and shaming and China. It argues that the Chinese government's prioritization of image and status acts as a double-edged sword when it comes to naming and shaming as it could (1) fuel a backlash or (2) have a positive influence, especially in status-sensitive time periods. While questioning the overall effectiveness of this strategy in relation to China, it argues that a culmination of factors in the lead up to the 2022 Beijing Olympics creates a window of opportunity for naming and shaming to have a positive impact. It offers normative recommendations to shed light on how this practice should be done. At a broader level, the article makes three contributions to the literature on naming and shaming and pragmatist ethics.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) (2021). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Studies Association. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | China; Uyghurs; mass atrocities; naming and shaming; pragmatism; status |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Politics & International Studies (POLIS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 18 Mar 2021 10:04 |
Last Modified: | 28 Feb 2023 16:29 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/jogss/ogab013 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:172217 |