Who Am I
I am an Associate Professor of Sociology at Tsinghua University and an Associate in Research at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University. My research interests include political sociology, historical sociology, contentious politics, mobility and social inequality, and Chinese societies. I received academic training from Stanford University and the University of Oxford and held fellowships from Harvard Radcliffe Institute, the Harvard-Yenching Institute, and Stanford Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center. I have received grants and awards from institutions like the Association for Asian Studies, the Institute for Humane Studies, Royal Historical Society, China and Asia-Pacific Research Society, and Cyrus Tang Foundation.
My current book project Factions in Formation: Grassroots Conflict and Collaboration in China’s Cultural Revolution explores factional politics and contentious violence during the Chinese Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1968. By utilizing the more abundant sources available today, this book aims to demonstrate that rival factions were constituted through a dynamic and contingent process as different groups confronted local political issues and urgent strategic demands. This book offers not only a new perspective on a revolutionary historical event but also a nuanced understanding of broader sociological and political processes of conflict, collaboration, and group identity formation.
My other ongoing research projects include:
Modern Chinese Historiography: New and Renewed Approaches (research team: Tongtiao Xiao, University of Washington; Peiran Wang, Tsinghua University/Harvard University)
Mass Factionalism and Intergroup Violence in China's Cultural Revolution (research team: Jessica Wang, Harvard College; Cindy Zhang, Harvard College) (The Radcliffe Research Partnership program)
Judicial Legacy: Cultural Revolution in the Judicial Documents (research team: Peirang Wang, Tsinghua University/Harvard University; Cindy Zhang, Harvard College)
Cultural Revolution in the Eyes of the Second-Generation Chinese Americans (Research team: Haoyang Fu, Harvard College; Lai Dai, Harvard College; Shuying Huo, Harvard College)
Visual Grammar and Media Politics (research team: Mingyu Gao, Watkinson School)
Trans-local Framing and Cultural Resistance in the Soundscape of DIY Music (research team: Yubai Li, The University of Edinburgh)
A City of Rootless (research team: Elina Li, Columbia University; Meggie Qu, The University of Edinburgh; Jing Ge, Harvard College; Siyi Huang, Tsinghua University/Harvard University)