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Powers of persuasion? China's struggle for human rights discourse power at the UN

Oud, Malin LU (2024) In Global Policy 15(S2). p.85-96
Abstract

Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the People's Republic of China has been on a mission to break what it describes as ‘Western hegemony’ around global norms. Beijing is engaged in a struggle to strengthen its influence in global governance and has identified increasing China's ‘discourse power’ at the United Nations (UN) as key to achieving this goal. Focused on human rights, this paper examines China's project to enhance its discourse power at the UN. It assesses how successful Beijing has been in shaping language, concepts and norms at the UN and to what extent there has been a power shift in line with China's aspirations. It concludes that in China's efforts to enhance its power over meaning at the UN, it relies less on its... (More)

Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the People's Republic of China has been on a mission to break what it describes as ‘Western hegemony’ around global norms. Beijing is engaged in a struggle to strengthen its influence in global governance and has identified increasing China's ‘discourse power’ at the United Nations (UN) as key to achieving this goal. Focused on human rights, this paper examines China's project to enhance its discourse power at the UN. It assesses how successful Beijing has been in shaping language, concepts and norms at the UN and to what extent there has been a power shift in line with China's aspirations. It concludes that in China's efforts to enhance its power over meaning at the UN, it relies less on its powers of persuasion to effect what Barnett and Duvall term productive power and more on compulsory power. China's vision for global governance and its growing clout at the UN has great implications for international order. In essence, China seeks to reshape international norms so that human rights become each member state's ‘internal affairs’ rather than a legitimate concern of the international community.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Global Policy
volume
15
issue
S2
pages
12 pages
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85193831775
ISSN
1758-5880
DOI
10.1111/1758-5899.13361
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
78817201-4b6a-47c7-bd8f-808f693c66f1
date added to LUP
2024-06-05 14:27:51
date last changed
2024-06-05 14:29:11
@article{78817201-4b6a-47c7-bd8f-808f693c66f1,
  abstract     = {{<p>Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the People's Republic of China has been on a mission to break what it describes as ‘Western hegemony’ around global norms. Beijing is engaged in a struggle to strengthen its influence in global governance and has identified increasing China's ‘discourse power’ at the United Nations (UN) as key to achieving this goal. Focused on human rights, this paper examines China's project to enhance its discourse power at the UN. It assesses how successful Beijing has been in shaping language, concepts and norms at the UN and to what extent there has been a power shift in line with China's aspirations. It concludes that in China's efforts to enhance its power over meaning at the UN, it relies less on its powers of persuasion to effect what Barnett and Duvall term productive power and more on compulsory power. China's vision for global governance and its growing clout at the UN has great implications for international order. In essence, China seeks to reshape international norms so that human rights become each member state's ‘internal affairs’ rather than a legitimate concern of the international community.</p>}},
  author       = {{Oud, Malin}},
  issn         = {{1758-5880}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{S2}},
  pages        = {{85--96}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Global Policy}},
  title        = {{Powers of persuasion? China's struggle for human rights discourse power at the UN}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13361}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/1758-5899.13361}},
  volume       = {{15}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}