Forward-leaning policing and stability maintenance: The politics of penal control in Xi's China

Abstract

This article seeks to address the intensification of incarceration in Xi's China. By situating the analysis of incarceration within the theory of penal politics, I ascribe the Chinese system of penal control to a purposeful and politically charged change in policing practices. Through what I call ‘forward-leaning policing’ (前倾式警务), China under the current leadership has co-opted the exercise of carceral power through more aggressive and proactive policing as an intensified response to an eclectic mix of developing social issues which threaten public order and political stability, emergent from China's transition to modernity. All the while, the country's community and social policy interventions have been inadequate in addressing the evolving ‘risks’ in Chinese society. Those two converging forces, together, pave the way for individuals to have increased contact with the justice system, as well as exposing them to a higher probability of falling within the remit of formal punishment, including imprisonment.