China and the World Seminar Series

Communication, Culture and Rural Revitalization in China

Thursday 4 May 2023

12:30pm-1:00pm FREE lunch, 1:00pm-2:00pm seminar

PODCAST available here.

Drawing upon extensive fieldwork and nearly ten years of participatory action research in Jinyun County, Zhejiang Province, this talk explores the role of communication and culture in Xi-era China’s drive to revitalize the countryside after decades of GDP-driven, uneven, and urban-centric development. China’s cutting-edge modern communication infrastructures and deep-rooted agrarian traditions serve as revealing sites for analyzing the possibilities and limits of the Chinese state’s rural revitalization strategy, while Zhejiang as the party-state’s chosen demonstration zone for achieving modernization and common prosperity offers a unique vantage point for a critical examination of the place of the rural in China’s overall developmental trajectory.   

Speaker: Professor Yuezhi Zhao (Simon Fraser University, Canada and Tsinghua University, China).

Chair: Professor Bingchun Meng (Co-Director of LSE-Fudan Public Policy Centre, Director of LSE PhD Academy).

Venue: CBG 2.06 

Autocratic China: Ideology, Bureaucracy and Repression

Monday 6 March 2023

12:30pm-1:00pm lunch, 1:00pm-2:00pm seminar

 Join us for free lunch and discussion on the origins of China's autocratic regime. Dr Xue will consider the nature of autocratic rule in China with a particular focus on the Qing dynasty and the use of persecution to suppress potential dissent. The talk will discuss the imperial examination system and the constrains autocrats faced in using this system to select bureaucrats. Finally, the speaker will touch on the role of ideas and how these can be used to legitimate autocratic rule.

Speaker: Professor Dr Melanie Xue (LSE Economic History).

Chair: Dr Timothy Hildebrandt (LSE-Fudan Hub Council Member).

Venue: NAB 8.02 or Zoom livestream. 

Register here for in-person and here for online.

Social Policy Development in the Post-COVID Age in China and BRICS Countries: Challenges and Opportunities

Wednesday 8 February 2023, 1:00pm-2:00pm

Based on the speakers’ research on social policy developments in China and BRICS countries before and during the pandemic, especially in the fields of education and health policies, this seminar will be devoted to discussing the challenges and opportunities as these countries move to “build back better” in the post-COVID age.

Speaker: Dr Yifei Yan (Southampton University).

Chair: Dr Yuxi Zhang (School of Public Policy).

Listen to the podcast here.

This seminar is co-hosted with the Global Health Initiative . 

Civic Engagement, Volunteerism and Philanthropy in Contemporary China and Beyond

Thursday 8 December 2022, 1:00pm-2:00pm

In this conversation, Profs Hasmath and Hildebrandt will explore the relationship between volunteerism, philanthropy, and civic engagement in contemporary China. They will discuss the new forms of citizen-led initiatives that are complementary to, or supplanting, state-led ones.

Speaker: Dr Reza Hasmath (University of Alberta).

Chair: Dr Timothy Hildebrandt (Department of Social Policy).

Listen to the podcast here.

Researching Public Opinion in China

Thursday 10 November 2022, 1:00pm-2:00pm

In this research dialogue session, Dr Blake Miller and Professor Bingchun Meng will discuss their research on mediated political communication in the Chinese context and exchange opinions about some of the common methodological and conceptual issues that cut across their respective fields.

Listen to the podcast here.