Recent Papers
Monograph
Legitimacy of China’s Counter-Terrorism Approach: The Mass Line Ethos
Palgrave Macmillan, 2022 | Also available in German translation
Based on my doctoral research, this book explores how the Chinese party-state seeks to legitimise its counter-terrorism agenda through the mass line — a Maoist ethos of governance grounded in participation, persuasion, and emotional resonance. Rather than imposing authority from above, the state aims to cultivate consent and mobilise active involvement from below.
Bridging critical security studies and Chinese political thought, the book offers a fresh lens on how legitimacy is affectively and discursively co-produced in authoritarian settings — not as passive compliance, but as emotionally charged participation.
EU’s Narratives of Counter-terrorism and the prospects of Sino-European security cooperation
Narrating China and Europe in Uncertain Times
Bristol University Press
Routledge Handbook of Chinese Media (2nd edition)
Routledge
Chinese nationalism in the age of social media: competing actors, discourses and interests
Routledge Handbook of Chinese Media (2nd edition)
Routledge
China, media and international conflicts.
Routledge
Competing narratives of the Xinjiang question and China-West geopolitical rivalry.
China, media and international conflicts
Routledge
Chinese world order, sovereignty, and international practice
Sovereignty in a global perspective
Oxford University Press
Fighting tigers or flies? Towards effective counter-radicalization narratives in China
China’s international communication and relationship building
Routledge
Propaganda through participation: Counterterrorism narratives in China
Research handbook on political propaganda
Edward Elgar Publishing
Edited Volumes
The Implications of Ethnic Politics in Post-Socialist States for China
Palgrave Macmillan, 2025 | Co-edited with Gulnara Dadabayeva
This edited volume brings together scholars from China, Central Asia, and the UK to explore how ethnic politics, identity, and knowledge production unfold in post-socialist states — and what these dynamics mean for China’s regional strategy. From soft power struggles in higher education to competing historical narratives and shifting migration patterns, the book highlights how China’s engagement in Central Asia is as much cultural and epistemic as it is economic or strategic.
As co-editor and contributor, my chapter examines the development of Central Asian studies within China, revealing how the country not only builds infrastructure abroad but also reimagines its intellectual map of the region. Together, the volume offers a rare, multi-vocal perspective that foregrounds voices from the Global South and rethinks China–Central Asia relations beyond hegemony and resistance.
Governance in Transitional Societies in East and Southeast Asia: Forms of Compliance and Resistance
Palgrave Macmillan, 2023 | Co-edited with Bich Tran
This volume examines how governance is negotiated in transitional societies across East and Southeast Asia — not only through formal institutions, but through everyday practices of compliance, negotiation, and resistance. Drawing on diverse case studies, the book highlights how political authority is shaped, stretched, and subverted in contexts where power is neither fully consolidated nor openly contested.
As co-editor, I helped curate contributions that foreground the agency of local actors and illuminate the subtle mechanics of rule and refusal. The volume contributes to a richer understanding of governance beyond Western-centric models, offering fresh insights into the lived realities of state-society relations in a region marked by flux, fragility, and transformation.
Human Security in China: A Post-Pandemic State
Palgrave Macmillan, 2021
This volume explores how the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped discourses and practices of human security in China. Moving beyond state-centric analyses, it examines how public health, information control, economic resilience, and community mobilisation have been reframed as security challenges — and how these responses reflect deeper transformations in Chinese governance.
As editor, I brought together interdisciplinary voices to critically assess what “security” means in a post-pandemic China. The volume offers a timely intervention into debates on authoritarian resilience, crisis governance, and the emotional dimensions of state-society relations in an age of uncertainty.