Dr Valeria Zanier

Dr Valeria Zanier is Visiting Research Fellow for the year 2016/17.

Her core academic interests are the history of contemporary China and the role of entrepreneurs in processes of political and economic modernization. On these topics she has published several articles in international journals and a monograph.

In 2013-2015 Dr Zanier was hosted by the Department as a Marie Curie (IEF) FP7 Senior Fellow for the project “China's economic relations with Western Europe during the Cold War”. Thanks to this generous grant, Dr Zanier has produced several outputs of her research. She has co-edited the special issue “Circumventing the Cold War: the parallel diplomacy of economic and cultural exchanges between Western Europe and Socialist China in the 1950s and 1960s”, which will appear in Modern Asian Studies, 51:1, 2017. She is now turning her research into a book with a major international publisher.

Her new project "British perception on Emerging East Asia” will explore the nexus between the UK business community and British foreign policy makers in the years 1964-1976. In particular, the project will analyse three aspects of British foreign policy towards East Asia: 1) UK attitude towards East-West détente, through the analysis of Britain – China relations; 2) decolonization, through the study of British relations with Hong Kong and with former colonies Singapore and Malaysia; 3) UK perception of emerging economic powers (China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan).

Academic and research networks

Dr Zanier collaborates with the Center for Technology and Society and the China Centre at Technische Universität Berlin (TUB) carrying out joint comparative research on industrial history in China and Russia.

She is also a member of the Faculty Board of the Msc Global Management China, a Masters Programme jointly organized by a network of Italian universities.

Books

• From the great experiment to the harmonious society: Thirty years of economic reforms to build a new China, Milano: Franco Angeli, 2011 [in Italian]

Articles in Refereed Journals

• “Redéfinir la relation de l'Europe et de la Chine après 1945: les organisations économiques britanniques à la recherche d’échanges commerciaux « politiquement corrects » (1952-1963)”, in Relations Internationales, no. 168, February 2017.
• “Western European industrialists and China’s dream of self-reliance: the case of ENI (1956-1965)”, in Modern Asian Studies, 51:1, January 2017.
• Introduction to Special Issue Circumventing the Cold War. The parallel diplomacy of economic and cultural exchanges between Western Europe and China (1949-1965), Modern Asian Studies, 51:1, January 2017 (co-authored with Angela Romano).
• “Bureaucracy, Business and Adventure. China-Europe Trade Relations in Early Cold War (1952-1957)”, in Cold War International History Studies [in Chinese], No. 19, 2015.
• “How Sub-Government local promotion agencies respond to China’s changes: an analysis of four European cases”, Veneto Internazionale, vol. 6 (2012), pp. 173-184 [in Italian].
• "The Environment: Once Problem of the Rich, now Part of the Marketing Strategy? A Case Study in China’s Environmental Communication", in International Journal of Chinese Culture and Management, 2008, Vol. 1, no. 2.

Book Chapters

• “1967 as the turning point in UK – China – Hong Kong business alliance”, in O. A. Westad and P. Roberts (eds.): China, Hong Kong, and the Long 1970’s in Global Perspective, Palgrave MacMillan. Forthcoming in 2017 (co-authored with Roberto Peruzzi)
• “China’s Trade with Europe during the Cold War: Strategy and Objectives, in C. Meneguzzi and G. Samarani (eds.), Mao’s China, Italy and Europe during the Cold War, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2014. [in Italian]
• “With a Little Help from the State: Endogenous and Exogenous Dynamics in China’s Cluster Economy”, in R. Taylor (ed.), The Globalization of Chinese Business: Implications for Multinational Investors, Oxford: Elsevier Group, 2014.
• “Confucian Confusion. Perception of value in the Chinese consumer between modernity and tradition”, in G. Aiello (ed.), Branding and retailing of Made in Italy’s in the world, Milano: Aracne Editrice, 2013, pp. 163-188 [in Italian].
• with R. Donvito, “Perceptions of Chinese consumers in ‘Made in Italy’ marketing strategies”, in T. Vescovi (ed.), Dragonflies on the Dragon. Business models and marketing strategies for the Italian companies in China, Padua: CEDAM, 2011, pp. 17-29 [in Italian].
• “The Wenzhou Entrepreneurs: self-made man or a product of Social Cohesion?” in R. Cavalieri, I. Franceschini (eds.), Civil Society Sprouts in China, Brescia: Brioschi Editore 2010, pp. 125-140 [in Italian].
• “The Wenzhou Entrepreneurs: self-made man or a product of Social Cohesion?” in Cavalieri R., Franceschini I. (eds.), Civil Society Sprouts in China, Brescia: Brioschi Editore 2010 [in Italian]

Organizing Workshops and Conference Sessions

• Conference Session “Revisiting the role of foreign trade in socialist economies”, The XVIIth World Economic History Congress, Kyoto, 3-7 August 2015
• Workshop “Economic Encounters in the Age of Ideology. Exploring the Business Dimension of Political Confrontation: China, Russia, Europe, 1945-1991”, LSE, London, 7-8 May 2015
• Workshop “Regionalization and Globalization. Best and worst practices of European sub-national governments in the Chinese market”, organized at Padua University, in cooperation with Veneto Regional Government, Veneto Chambers of Commerce. Padua, 30 May 2012
• International Workshop “Business Models and Comparative Evolution of Industrial Districts in Zhejiang and Veneto”, organized in cooperation with the Economic Office of the PRC Embassy in Italy and the School of Management, Zhejiang University. Venice, 2 December 2011

Presentations (a selection)

• “Pointing the Dragon cub. Perceptions of China as an emerging market in the 1970s”, World First Business History Conference, Bergen, 26-27 August 2106
• “A very early start. How trading with Mao made it easier to predict China’s economic boom”, ABH – GUG Joint Conference, Humboldt Universitaet Berlin, 26-28 May 2016
• “The sterling devaluation and the change of strategy in China – Hong Kong – UK relations (1967-1974)”, Workshop “China, Hong Kong and the Long 1970’s in Global Perspective”, Hong Kong University, 14-16 April 2015
• “Challenging the Cold War Embargo. Western European Industrialists in China (1957-1965)”, The Economic and Business History Society 39th Annual Conference, Manchester 29-31 May 2014
• “ENI’s Role in China-Italy non-governmental diplomacy during Cold War”, World Business History Conference, Frankfurt am Main, 16-17 March 2014
• “The role of business associations in the making of a successful (and lawful) district”, 6th Chinese in Prato and 4th Wenzhouese Diaspora Symposia, Prato, 29-30 October 2013
• “United we win. The delicate balance of state and private in China’s media industry”, NECS (European Network for Cinema and Media Studies), Prague, Charles National University, 20-22 June 2013
• “The role of business élites in China’s quest for its past”, National Central Library Seminars, Taipei, 6 November 2012
• “The new Chinese managerial culture: between labour ethics and ethical leadership”, AICS Biannual Conference, Milan, Milan State University, 22-24 September 2011
• “At the roots of the Zhejiang family business model: traces before 1978”, Annual Conference on Family Business History, Hangzhou, Zhejiang University, 28-29 October 2010.

2013/2015

• Marie Curie Research (IEF) Fellowship Successfully bid for £212,338 award to fund
  Project: China’s economic relations with Europe in the Cold War (1952 – 1965). Hosted by the Department of International History, LSE

2012

• 6 months Fellowship funded by the Center for Chinese Studies (CCS), Taiwan National Central Library, Taipei.
  Research Project: The Role of Business Elite in China's Quest for Her Past.

2011/12

• Successfully applied for £40,000 award from the EU Social Fund to fund
  Project: Sub-national Governments promoting Local Economic Systems extra-UE (1990-2010)
  Hosted by the Department of International Studies, University of Padua

2009/2011

• Awarded £30,000 from the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Exchange to fund
  Project: The transformation of private entrepreneurship during the early years of Mao’s China (1949-1956)

2004/2007

• Three years stipendiary grant £30,000 awarded by Ca’ Foscari University to enter the PhD programme.
  Research: Media as a government tool to creating consensus in transitional China (1990s)

1996/7

• Bursary of £10,000 to attend the Masters Programme in International Commerce, Italian Trade Commission

1994

• Three months scholarship awarded by the Ministry of Education, Taiwan ROC
  Research: Qing Empire’s early relations with Russia (Kangxi era)

Collaboration in writing research proposals

• 2011/2014 "At the roots of European recognition of the PRC, 1960-1974. National and transnational actors and strategies", successfully submitted for funding by Prof. Carla Meneguzzi to the University of Padua
  Co-writer and Contributor as expert on China’s economic relations with Western Europe
• 2010/2013 "Italy, Europe, China. Economic, political, and cultural relations in the Cold War years, 1954-1971", successfully submitted for funding by Prof. Guido Samarani to Ca’ Foscari University
  Co-writer and Contributor as expert on China’s economic relations with Western Europe
• 2010/2012 “Analysis of the value system of potential consumers of Made in Italy products”, successfully submitted for funding to the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (PRIN 2009) by Prof. Gaetano Aiello, University of Florence
  Co-writer and Contributor as expert on China’s economic development and consumer culture