Zhifan Luo
@zhifan-luo.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Sociology @McMaster University | Media, power, and computational social science.
Social media is no longer social. Most of it is passive viewing of videos and pictures from people we've never met. But we're still studying social media like it's 2010. We've entered the post-social media era — and research needs to catch up. osf.io/preprints/so... preprint w/ Richard Rogers
Spread the word! Tenure Track Assistant Professor position in Sociology of Work and Professions, with the ability to teach sociological theory. 📍Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario 🇨🇦 Applications due March 19. Position begins July 1st. careers.wlu.ca/job/Waterloo...
Full-Time Tenure-Track as Assistant Professor in Sociology
Full-Time Tenure-Track as Assistant Professor in Sociology
careers.wlu.ca
Happy to share our commentary is published on Big Data & Society today! Instead of seeing China as AI’s dystopian specter, what if we use it as a generative lens to rethink global AI? journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
China as an analytical lens for AI and society - Chuncheng Liu, Zhifan Luo, 2025
How can “China” serve as a productive analytical tool for understanding the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) and society? This commentary propo...
journals.sagepub.com
How should we think about China in today’s debates on AI and society, and how might China serve as a productive analytical lens? In this commentary, @zhifan-luo.bsky.social and I offer a typology to see China as mirror, prototype, counterpoint, and global actor. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Wilson College at McMaster is hiring a TTAP or a tenured Associate Professor. Come join us! www.academicwork.ca/jobs/jo-7203...
Wilson College of Leadership and Civic Engagement - Faculty Appointment - CAUT | Academic Work
academicwork.ca
How should we think about China in today’s debates on AI and society, and how might China serve as a productive analytical lens? In this commentary, @zhifan-luo.bsky.social and I offer a typology to see China as mirror, prototype, counterpoint, and global actor. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
China as an Analytical Lens for AI and Society
How can "China" serve as a productive analytical tool for understanding the relationship between artificial intelligence's and society? This commentar
papers.ssrn.com
How do journalists report on China? @zhifan-luo.bsky.social (McMaster University) and @violazhou.bsky.social (@restofworld.org) discuss the evolving role of journalism in China and in the U.S.-China relationship. ▶️ Watch: https://www.ncuscr.org/video/us-china-journalism/
What is the Role of Journalism in the U.S.-China Relationship?
Zhifan Luo and Viola Zhou joined us to discuss the evolving role of journalism in China and in the U.S.-China relationship.
ncuscr.org
A book party of Asian American first-time authors. We’ll demystify the publishing process and create a space for solidarity. Writing and publishing is never just about research but navigating marginalization, visibility, and voice. Seats with lunch are limited to the First 50 RSVP: shorturl.at/SFuxF
Happy to share my thoughts on the role of pop culture in the context of U.S.-China tensions.
Why are the U.S. and China changing how they see each other? Viola Zhou (@restofworld.org) & Zhifan Luo (McMaster University) explain why cultural issues are seen as paramount to security. ▶️ Watch: www.ncuscr.org/video/us-chi...
#OutNow in #iCS Authoritarian states 'confiscate' progressive ideas, integrating civil discourse only to undermine it. Luo, Li & Yang's article on domestic violence in Chinese social media illustrates this hegemonic strategy. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Confiscating progressiveness: the Chinese state’s hegemonic strategies in shaping domestic violence frames on social media
In the era of social media, authoritarian states are often viewed as barriers to progressive agendas, especially in literature that emphasizes the coercive nature of digital authoritarianism. Howev...
tandfonline.com
Call For Contributions to an Edited Volume Trauma, Reconciliation, and Mnemonic Justice in Modern China Bin Xu (Emory) Zhiyi Yang (Frankfurt) Thomas B. Gold (Berkeley) Abstract by September 1, 2025. Full paper by March 31, 2026. Volume to the press summer 2026. Details: binxu.net/call-for-con...
Authoritarian states are often seen as obstacles to progressive agendas. In this study, my coauthors (Muyang Li & Fan Yang) and I show that the state can also employ hegemonic measures to "confiscate" progressive discourse. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Confiscating progressiveness: the Chinese state’s hegemonic strategies in shaping domestic violence frames on social media
In the era of social media, authoritarian states are often viewed as barriers to progressive agendas, especially in literature that emphasizes the coercive nature of digital authoritarianism. Howev...
tandfonline.com
THiS will hold its first Chinese Book Talk of 2025! On Apr. 22, 8:00–10:00 p.m. I’ll talk on my book, Authoritarian Absorption: The Transnational Remaking of Epidemic Politics in China (Oxford University Press, 2024). More info: www.thisoc.net/booktalk/boo...
This year at the Canadian Sociological Association Conference, Alex Miltsov, Muyang Li, and I organized a session on Sociological Perspectives on Generative AI. Don't forget to apply as there is one day left, and I look forward to seeing you in Toronto! event.fourwaves.com/csa-scs-conf...
After my experience teaching last semester I'm ready to take a very strong, and very unpopular, stand: Having an anti-AI policy in your class for at-home assignments is unethical. Full stop. If you don't want students to use AI (needed at times!), this can only be done for in-class exercises/exams.
My new book (Authoritarian Absorption: The Transnational Remaking of Epidemic Politics in China) drops! Wanna know how China gained capacities dealing with COVID-19? Why gay rights can be illiberal? Etc. check it out! www.amazon.com/Authoritaria...
Authoritarian Absorption: The Transnational Remaking of Epidemic Politics in China
Amazon.com: Authoritarian Absorption: The Transnational Remaking of Epidemic Politics in China: 9780190900199: Long, Yan: Books
amazon.com
Come join my online book talk/discussion next Friday EST. Zoom ID: 852 364 4345 Passcode: sociology
Please mark your calendar for Dec. 6, 8:00–10:00 p.m. ET, for @yingyaowang.bsky.social ’s talk on her wonderful new book “Markets with Bureaucratic Characteristics: How Economic Bureaucrats Make Policies and Remake the Chinese State” (Columbia University Press, 2024).
Glad to see the growth of the literature on participatory censorship! For our paper proposing the term, please check here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
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Fresh off the press @cpsjournal.bsky.social!! My paper takes a systematic look at public participation in censorship in China. With a fun survey experiment simulating social media experiences, I find online reporting significantly increased public support for censorship. doi.org/10.1177/0010...
On Dec 4 at 8 PM (ET), THiS Workshop of Chinese Societies will host a session featuring @drjcw.bsky.social’s project titled “Chinese American or American Chinese?: WeChat and the Hybrid Identity of Chinese Immigrants in the U.S.” Join us on Zoom: concordia-ca.zoom.us/j/8951907632...
Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting
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I created a starter pack for sociologists studying China: go.bsky.app/NetJdDm. We study China’s labor, gender, family, inequality, organizations, education, professions, media, civil society, protests, immigration, as well as politics and history. Let me know if you want to be added (or removed).