About me

Mariah Thornton is a final year doctoral candidate at the Department of International Relations and a researcher at LSE IDEAS. Her research focuses on Taiwanese whole-of-society and sociotechnical resistance to disinformation, China’s foreign policy and strategy toward Taiwan, cross-Strait relations, as well as Taiwan in digital IR. Mariah's work draws on Neo-Gramscian theories of power and resistance in International Relations, social-processualism, historical institutionalism, security studies, political theory, and international political sociology.

Before joining LSE, Mariah worked as a press and communications officer at the Taipei Representative Office for over two years under Taiwan’s then representative to the UK and former foreign minister David Lin. Mariah also worked in business development at an international education consultancy with a focus on China and East Asia.

Mariah completed a BA in Chinese Studies at the University of Oxford (2011-2015) and an MSc in Chinese Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (2016-2017). Mariah was awarded the Taiwan Fellowship to conduct research at National Chengchi University (2023), the Huayu scholarship to study Chinese at National Taiwan Normal University (2015-2016) as well as the Fung scholarship to fund her Mandarin studies at Peking University (2012-2013).

Research topic

Taiwan's whole-of-society and sociotechnical resistance to disinformation, China’s foreign policy and strategy toward Taiwan, cross-Strait relations, as well as Taiwan in digital IR