Marc Marmino

Marc Marmino is a PhD Candidate in Chinese Studies Research at the Lau China Institute. Marc earned his MA in Asian Security Studies from the United States Naval Postgraduate School (distinction) and his BSc in Economics from the United States Air Force Academy.

Research

Thesis title: The power of pandemic surveillance: a comparative approach towards young adult compliance and resistance to digital pandemic surveillance in the PRC and Taiwan.

In both democratic and authoritarian regimes across the world, governments increasingly use digital technologies to monitor and alter the behaviour of residents within their borders. While the tools employed are similar across various political systems, the ways in which individuals interact with government-sponsored surveillance depend on a myriad of factors. This thesis looks at the different ways in which young adults inside China and Taiwan engaged with the widespread use of digital surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. China and Taiwan have cultural similarities but different political characters; the PRC is a one-party state whereas Taiwan is a multiparty democracy. And yet, for both, the pandemic was very effectively managed, partly through the wide use and acceptance of surveillance technologies. The main research question is: how was compliance and resistance towards enhanced government-sponsored digital surveillance mediated between the state and young adults in the PRC and Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic?

It offers an opportunity to ask, in a new context and a different way, how young adults in different political systems engage with these technologies and what influences their compliance. This thesis uses semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and discourse analysis to understand attitudes and other causal mechanisms enabling compliance to digital pandemic technologies. The study compares surveillance activity and sentiment data in the digital space through Michel Foucault’s theories of power and resistance.

PhD supervision

• Principal supervisor:  Kerry Brown
• Secondary supervisor:  Konstantinos Tsimonis

Further details

See Marc's research profile