The Global Age of the Algorithm: Social Credit and the Financialisation of Governance in China

Much has been made of the Orwellian social control aspects of the emerging ‘social credit system’ in China. However, social credit is more than simply a Chinese version of big brother: it is an unprecedented climax of the global financialisation project and a signal of a potential dark digital future dominated by algorithmic rule. In recent years, few news items out of China have resulted in as much anxiety and fear in western media and public discourse than the Chinese government’s ongoing attempts to create a ‘social credit system’ (shehui xinyong