Rethinking Authority in China’s Border Regime

Franziska Plümmer is Assistant Professor of Europe-China relations at the University of Amsterdam researching the role of Chinese technology companies in European data regulation and 'critical' infrastructure provision. Generally, her research lies at the intersection of International Relations, Critical Security Studies and China Studies focusing on mobility of migrants and data across borders.

• List of Maps, Tables, and Figures List of Abbreviations Acknowledgements 1 Introduction Multiple Borders – Tracking the Border down Contextualizing Chinese Border Politics in the Making On Border Regimes, Sovereignty, and Immigration Methodological Reflections Map of the Book 2 Border Authority and Zoning Technologies Border as a Method of Investigation Territorial Governmentality and Zoning Technologies Self-regulation and Self-responsibility in China’s Neo-socialist Governmentality 3 Graduated Citizenship and Social Control in China’s Immigration System The Power to Choose Characteristics of the Chinese Immigration System Labelling Immigrants: Differentiating Legal Authority and Control over Immigrants Rationalities of the Chinese Immigration System 4 Making Border Politics : State Actors & Security in the Chinese Border Regime Locating Border Security Control: Externalization/Internalization State Configurations in Border Politics Defending the Border: Security Enforcement Internal Border Security: Developing Border Areas from Within Policing at Distance and Local Exceptions 5 Re-Scaling Territorial Authority within Regional Organizations From Left behind to Bridging the Gap: Re-scaling the Chinese State Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI) Zoning through Development 6 Local Bordering Practices and Zoning Technologies Southwest: Dehong and Xishuangbanna Prefecture/Yunnan Province Northeast: Yanbian Prefecture/Jilin Province Legality as a Selective, Conditional, and Locally Bound Privilege 7 Conclusion — Authority in the Chinese Border Regime Special Border Zones: Normalizing Local Exceptions The Role of Local Governments in China’s Border Management Border as a Method of Social Control: Graduated Citizenship in China’s Immigration System Border as a Method of Spatial Development: Territoriality and Centre-Periphery Relations References Appendix A: Institutional Architecture of Yunnan Province in the GMS Appendix B: Institutional Architecture of Jilin Province in the GTI Glossary Index

"Certainly, I will be referencing Rethinking Authority in my own writing. Having been immersed in borderland studies for about a decade, and China studies for considerably longer, I found Rethinking Authority offering frequent – and useful – insights and information on border regimes and regulations." - Hasan H. Karrar, China Perspectives, No. 2022/2 "Drawing upon field work, Franziska Plümmer takes on these evolving issues within a broader matrix of borderland studies and demonstrates an impressive range within the social sciences...This is a valuable book overall, recommended to scholars of China’s borderlands, border and migration studies generally, and the burgeoning discourse on rights for migrants." - Adam Cathcart, The China Quarterly, Vol. 251, September 2022