Authoritarian Absorption: The Transnational Remaking of Epidemic Politics in China

Join in person or via Zoom us for a Global Health Politics Workshop with Yan Long, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley. Yan Long studies the interactions between globalization and authoritarian politics across empirical areas such as health, civic action, gender, development and technology with a geographic focus on China.

This talk asks why states take some epidemics seriously but not others by tracing the transformation of China’s infectious disease system. It shows how interactions among foreign health organizations, Chinese officials, and grassroots activists strengthened public health capacity while reinforcing authoritarian rule and uneven biopolitical inclusion—benefiting groups like urban gay men. Together, these dynamics reveal how the diffusion of global liberal ideas enhances authoritarianism.

Co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Asia.