There are some people who claim that there is no such thing as self-censorship among China scholars. But have they ever heard of *participant observation*? Let me offer anonymised and paraphrased quotes from academics who I have met over the past fifteen years /1
But before I start let me offer a definition: "Self-censorship is defined as the act of intentionally and voluntarily suppressing information from others when formal impediments are absent." (Daniel Bar-Tal, 2017) /2
"I don't want to learn about the human rights situation in China. This would make it very hard for me to engage with this country." /3
"Someone with your research interests will never be accepted as one of us" (as recounted by a friend of mine who has researched human rights in China) /4
"I don't want to undermine the Chinese Communist Party with my scholarship" /5
"I don't research the link between civil society and democracy since I don't want to be associated with the American neo-cons" /6
"You should not research the topic of democracy in mainland China: this is a form of cultural imperialism" /7
"One should not talk about Chinese democracy activists in the presence of party-state officials" /8
"You should not publicly critize China" /9
Feel free to add other *anoymised* quotes from academics who have discourage you or others from addressing the political dimension of your China scholarship. No need for names here, let's keep it civil. But let's also not pretend we don't have a problem with self-censorship /End
