My new piece in @ForeignAffairs explains why it is so difficult for the Chinese government to stop misallocation of resources and wasteful spending, how waste in China differs from waste in democracies, and what it means for China’s development.

Children derail academic careers even in places with good social nets, like Denmark

Why did private firms, not state-owned enterprises (SOEs), come to dominate China’s EV sector? My new @ChinaJournal article (co-authored with Xiao Ma @maxiaoalex) challenge the "top-down industrial policy" narrative. The real engine? Strategic alliances between local governments and private capital. 🧵 Based on 3 years of fieldwork, 60 interviews (with officials, entrepreneurs, and engineers), and rich first-hand accounts, we show how strict central regulations inadvertently drove local states to bet big on private EV players. Here is the story: (1/15)

Ho-fung Hung on the persistence of dollar hegemony (@hofunghung): 'Every time the global economy plunges into turmoil, talk of the coming end of dollar hegemony resurfaces...' newleftreview.org/sidecar/po…

My book Gender Identity: The Career of a Category was published today in the UK. It will be published in early August in the US, but the Kindle edition is available now. Print edition can be pre-ordered here: wiley.com/en-us/shop/general…

🚗🔋 Many think Beijing masterfully planned China's EV takeover. Fengming Lu (@ANUBellSchool ) and I spent 3 years and 60 interviews finding out what actually happened in our latest article @TheChinaJournal. A thread 🧵

New paper w/@jieunkim1211 in World Politics: do societal actors matter in authoritarian legal systems? We argue lawyers in China act as "rightful challengers" — leveraging intra-state tensions to advance their clients' interests. doi.org/10.1353/wp.2026.a987…

great cover! press.umich.edu/Books/T/The-…

Yet another reason why Arrighi’s The Long Twentieth Century deserves many revisits. Rarely cited as a discussion of tariffs, the book has an original angle on why and how American tariffs worked in the past; and would allow us to develop a unique (and unlike mainstream ones, 1/

RT @hofunghung: delighted to see Xiaohong's book is coming out this fall, posthumously. It is going to demythicize the revolution while rev…

Truly wonderful news that some of Xiaohong Xu’s book manuscript will be published posthumously. The field owes the three editors who made this happen a tremendous debt. [The Great Separation | University of Michigan Press] press.umich.edu/Books/T/The-…

Don't miss the final interdisciplinary research seminar of this semester! 📚 Join us as @ProfYangZhang from @AmericanU explores "Studying Elite Politics through Conversation Networks: Elite Conflicts and the Making of the Chinese Reform." 🗓️ Date: Dec 5, 2025 (Fri) 🕧 Time: 12:30 - 14:00 HKT | 20:30 - 22:00 PST (Dec 4) 📍 Venue: Rm 201, May Hall, HKU or via Zoom 👉Register now: hkihss.hku.hk/en/events/stud… Stay tuned for more exciting seminars next semester! ✨ #InterdisciplinaryResearch #ChineseReform #ElitePolitics #HKU #ZoomEvent @HKUniversity @hkihss

Please join the day-long series "Historical Social Sciences and China" this Friday in the Grant Park Parlor at Palmer House @socscihist. Our symposium features four sessions on elite politics, socialism & capitalism, state & empire, and a roundtable on Remaking Modernity.

You can download a copy of my review essay “Changing China in Sociological Eyes” (AJS, July 2025) from the link below. By reviewing three recent books, I argue it is crucial to assess China’s reform era by historicizing its past, present, and future. academia.edu/142956049/Chang…

This Friday at 9 am EST, we'll host Jack Goldstone @jgoldsto to offer a demographic view on the competition among the U.S., China, Russia, and India in the 21st century. It is followed by an interdisciplinary panel by @hofunghung @ZhangTaisu etc. Join us: american.zoom.us/j/839162668…

“Navigating the Nexus in Politics, History, and Methodology,” a conference in honor of Professor Dingxin Zhao on the occasion of his retirement, will be held on October 11-12 at the University of Chicago. See details in the poster. Registration link: forms.gle/UeVYxGDJSoUN2f5a9

Honored and excited for this symposium on After Positivism, hosted by @NSSRNews on Friday 9/27. @LeeJackJin_Gary has pulled together a tremendous set of panelists for a robust discussion on the comparative method. Free & open to the public; register here: event.newschool.edu/afterpos…

Congratulations to @mutinous_lass and @ProfYangZhang for receiving honorable mentions for the @ASAnews Collective Behavior and Social Movements Section Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Article Award! american.edu/sis/research/hi…