Regulation of Religious Practice in China

Beyond Your News Feed: Understanding Contemporary Politics

Although most of us associate the People’s Republic of China (the PRC) with its officially sanctioned atheism, the government tolerates a variety of religious practice within the country. Regulating and controlling religious practice to assure that it does not pose a threat to the dominance of either the Chinese state or the ruling Chinese Communist Party is an on-going challenge to both party and state. Professor Susan McCarthy, the PC political science department’s China expert and a leading authority on ethnic and religious minorities in China, has returned to Beyond Your News Feed to discuss recent developments in the PRC’s efforts to regulate religious practice. Our discussion centers around two of Dr. McCarthy’s recent papers on the topic: “Liberating Party Animals: Cultural Governance and ‘Life Release’ Rituals in China” published in July 2022 in The China Journal and a yet unpublished paper: “Sinicizing China’s World Muslim City: Spatial Politics, National Narratives, and Ethno-Religious Assimilation in the PRC”.