“If the People Do Not Raise the Issue, the Officials Will Not Investigate”: Moral Citizenship among China’s Fake-Fighters

Abstract

Are China’s fake-fighters (打假, dajia) heroic consumer activists or morally dubious profit-seekers? Do they make the marketplace safer for ordinary consumers by using the law to “fight” fake, dangerous and falsely advertised goods, or benefit only themselves through the exploitation of legal loopholes? Since the 1994 Consumer Protection Law introduced a fiscal incentive that made fake-fighting a viable career, its practitioners have struggled to define their work against these stereotypical characterisations. In this empirical article, I show that fake-fighters reject criticisms of their motivations while at the same time avoiding censure by party-state authorities wary of activism couched in terms of rights by framing their work as a practice of moral citizenship. Fake-fighters believe it is their responsibility to highlight potential dangers in the marketplace, disseminate legal knowledge, and, crucially, prompt the government to enforce pre-existing laws to better protect consumers and advance national development.