Political scientist writing and commenting on civil society, protest/activism, state control, labor politics, and authoritarian citizenship in China.
Bio
Diana Fu is associate professor of political science at The University of Toronto and director of the East Asia Seminar Series at the Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. She is a non-resident fellow at Brookings Institution, a China fellow at the Wilson Center, and a public intellectuals fellow at the National Committee on US-China Relations.
Her research examines civil society, popular contention, state control, and authoritarian citizenship in China. She is author of the award-winning book “Mobilizing Without the Masses: Control and Contention in China” (2018, Cambridge University Press and Columbia Weatherhead Series). Based on political ethnography inside labor organizations, it uncovers how Chinese migrant workers organized for rights without protesting en masse. It received best book awards from the American Political Science Association, the American Sociological Association, and the International Studies Association. Her articles have appeared in Comparative Political Studies (co-winner of the 2017 best article in CPS), Governance (winner of the 2019 American Sociological Association’s Distinguished Scholarly Article Award), Modern China, Perspectives on Politics, and The China Journal.
Her research and commentary have also appeared in BBC World Service, Bloomberg TV, CBC, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Reuters, US News & World Report, The Economist, The Financial Times, The Globe & Mail, and The New York Times, among others. She has hosted the TVO documentary series “China Here and Now” and POLITICO China Watcher.
Dr. Fu received her D.Phil in Politics form Oxford University, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar and is currently serving as National Co-secretary of the Rhodes Scholarship for China. She has been elected to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists. She enjoys Latin dance and creative writing.
Recent speaking engagements
The University of Hong Kong, Contemporary China Public Lecture. Feb. 26, 2021
Department of Finance Canada. The Canada-China Roundtable Series (internal). Jan. 21, 2021
Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies. Dec. 11, 2020
New York University, Brademas Center. Dec. 10, 2020
Columbia University, Political Science Department. Dec. 9, 2020
Syracuse University, the Maxwell School. Oct. 30, 2020
Columbia University, Weatherhead East Asian Institute. Oct. 9, 2020
