从硬件到平台:乡村治理的平台化如何发生

From Hardware to Platform:Platformization of Rural Governance in China

从广播、电视到社交媒体,媒介技术的每一次更迭都会带来乡村社会互动与治理的转变。随着数字平台逐渐渗透到国家治理的各个领域,乡村治理呈现新的治理形态,更体现出国家对基层社会调控逻辑的转变。本文以智能摄像头及其背后的治理平台为个案,通过田野调查和应用程序走读,辅以相关新闻报道和政策文件的分析,管窥当下数字平台所带来的乡村治理实践。研究发现,智能摄像头在国家政策、经济活动、传统社会关系与现代技术的互动中进入乡村并逐渐日常化;在与乡村社会互动的过程中,智能摄像头功能的“去中心化”与数据的“再中心化”既为村民家庭生活的自我管理提供可能,又使其服务于政府的治理;而智能摄像头不只是狭义的物质硬件,其背后是一个由国家和通讯运营商合作开发运营的物联网平台。因此,安装智能摄像头以后,进入乡村的不仅是一个硬件设备,还是一个物联网平台,该平台能够将村民、资本以及政府相连接,从而带来家庭活动与乡村治理的平台化。

The development of media technology has continually driven changes in rural social interaction and governance.As digital platforms gradually penetrate into national governance,rural governance has taken on new forms,reflecting the shifing logic of state regulation over grassroots society.This paper takes the smart monitoring and the social governance platform behind it as a case study,exploring the practical transformations brought about by digital platforms in rural governance through field research,walkthrough method,and analyses of relevant news reports and policy documents.The study finds that smart monitoring has gradually entered rural areas and become routine.In the process of interacting with rural society,the“decentralization”of smart monitoring functions and the“re-centralization” of data not only provide villagers with opportunities for selfmanagement of family but also enable them to serve the government's governance.The smart monitoring is not just a material hardware,but also an Internet of Things(loT)platform developed and operated by the state and communication operators.Therefore,what enters rural areas is not only a hardware but also an IoT platform that can connect villagers,capital,and the government,thus bringing about the platformization of family activities and rural governance.