YA-WEN LEI
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Since completing my first book, I have been pursuing the following projects, all of which speak to my interest in the growing significance of science and technology in politics, economy, and society. I became interested in these topics, in part, due to the influence of my fellow Fellows' at Harvard's Society of Fellows. During my postdoc years, I was fortunate to get to know many brilliant scientists and historians interested in science and technology. Also, I specialized in intellectual property laws before beginning my career in sociology. Returning to science and technology-related topics is exciting to me.​

  1. The global human genome editing controversy (forthcoming in The China Quarterly)
  2. Platform economy ( American Sociological Review, 2021)
  3. Automation and robotization (forthcoming in Work, Employment and Society)
  4. Upgrading the Nation: The Iron Cage of Techno-Developmentalism in China (under contract with Princeton University Press)

In the first project, I expand my previous work on the public sphere to examine four overlapping discursive arenas--China’s national public sphere and national expert sphere, the transnational public sphere and the transnational expert sphere--using the human genome editing controversy as an example. The second project examines the evolving modes of labor control--including technological, legal, and organizational control--as well as their the relationship with labor contention in the platform economy. In the third project, I consider the role of the techno-developmental state in automation and the state-capital-worker-technology relations. The fourth project aims to analyze the Chinese state's efforts to upgrade the economy and the social consequences of such efforts.  




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  • About
  • Research projects
  • Books
  • Articles
  • Teaching
  • My paintings