We Have Been Harmonized

Life in China's Surveillance State

By: Kai Strittmatter

Narrated by: Matthew Waterson

Named a Notable Work of Nonfiction of 2020 by the Washington Post

As heard on NPR's Fresh Air, We Have Been Harmonized, by award-winning correspondent Kai Strittmatter, offers a groundbreaking look, based on decades of research, at how China created the most terrifying surveillance state in history.

China’s new drive for repression is being underpinned by unpre­cedented advances in technology: facial and voice recognition, GPS tracking, supercomputer databases, intercepted cell phone conver­sations, the monitoring of app use, and millions of high-resolution security cameras make it nearly impossible for a Chinese citizen to hide anything from authorities. Commercial transactions, including food deliveries and online purchases, are fed into vast databases, along with everything from biometric information to social media activities to methods of birth control. Cameras (so advanced that they can locate a single person within a stadium crowd of 60,000) scan for faces and walking patterns to track each individual’s move­ment. In some schools, children’s facial expressions are monitored to make sure they are paying attention at the right times. In a new Social Credit System, each citizen is given a score for good behavior; for those who rate poorly, punishments include being banned from flying or taking high-speed trains, exclusion from certain jobs, and preventing their children from attending better schools. And it gets worse: Advanced surveillance has led to the imprisonment of more than a million Chinese citizens in western China alone, many held in draconian “reeducation” camps.

This digital totalitarianism has been made possible not only with the help of Chinese private tech companies, but the complic­ity of Western governments and corporations eager to gain access to China’s huge market. And while governments debate trade wars and tariffs, the Chinese Communist Party and its local partners are aggressively stepping up their efforts to export their surveillance technology abroad - including to the United States.

We Have Been Harmonized is a terrifying portrait of life under unprecedented government surveillance - and a dire warning about what could happen anywhere under the pretense of national security.

“Terrifying.... A warning call." (The Sunday Times, UK, a “Best Book of the Year so Far”)

©2019 Kai Strittmatter (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Great book

a sincere warning of what's coming our way in the West. Highly recommended read for those awake

A must listen on China

I’ve read about thirty China related books on audible and this is one of my favorites. A must listen. Connecting to George Orwell is a nice touch. Modern day description of 1984 come to life.

Stunning, simply stunning

Came across this book by accident, and I am so glad that I did. Thought provoking, well researched and eye-opening text performed excellently by the reader.

Behind the scenes (or in plain sight) manipulation and buying of the world by the Chinese communist party, should not go unnoticed. This is the greatest threat to western democracies.

the story of China's treatment of "trust breakers" was fascinating.

The last chapter was less interesting. The book needed to go out with a bang.

Increible, la puja que ya se da en el mundo.

El autor relata detalladamente hechos actuales y sucesos del interior de la china que son desconocidos en el mundo. ademas tiene una mirada muy critica acerca de las acciones de las democracias occidentales sobre el surgimiento de china.

Must read

If, like myself, you’re a China watcher this is the book to listen to. Terrifying and real and we have to act or the west will lose the great game

Outstanding Book!!!

This is a well written and preformed audio book about a country that most Westerners have no clue about. If you want to understand Communist China and the way technology and money are changing the way WE think then this is a great way to spend a credit.
Terrific book regardless of your political affiliation.

This should be taught in High School Social Studies!

There are a few books that peel back the veil of what China is doing. On the surface it seems very morally sound but unfortunately their long-term plans do not align with what has made the United States so great. Their success in appealing to Westerners as well as dividing us even to the point of meddling in our politics. They’ve been teaching in our schools for decades. We need to start teaching in our own schools so we can prepare appropriately for this threat.

Chilling

The authors points about the CCPs self-aggrandized form of orientalism - “China and the Chinese are so terribly unique that this dictatorial form of govern is perfect for us” - was interesting. I’ve actually heard that line and forms of that logic spouted by non Chinese acquaintances. In an age of rising nationalism, this book acts as an examination not only of China and the current Chinese government, but also of the effects of nationalist thinking as a lens of viewing the world. Perhaps the most heart breaking portion of the work focuses on the anomie and “symbolic loss” many Chinese people live with, where all social structures and institutions not immediately affiliated with the Party are seen as having no value. Previously, my mind had naturally associated consumerism with capitalist systems. I can now see how unbridled consumerism and the form nationalism touted by the CCP literally encourage people to attempt to purchase their personhood.

Yes: there are negative critiques of former president Trump, but the fact that those comments are major sticking points for some American readers PROVES the validity of some of the points in the book; nationalism has as much to do with people as it does governments.

Excellent book, one of the best all year

This is an excellent book, well written about a fairly terrifying subject. I really didn’t understand details about the culture in China under Xi until this book. It’s so obvious that he is making the same mistake mistakes as previous Chinese leaders. You see what happens to a society when no one can speak the truth, when everyone must be “harmonized.“ I am afraid that the coming fascist Trump administration will also use surveillance tools, thank you for writing this excellent book. Thank you for going up against dictators and totalitarian leaders to write this.