Mar 16, 2020
This episode is part of the National Committee's Coronavirus Impact Series: www.ncuscr.org/coronavirus
The coronavirus outbreak has prompted a wave of public action in China, including fundraising, volunteering, citizen journalism, advocacy, and more. Professor Bin Xu examines varying forms of civic engagement in China, its implications for Chinese society and government, and its pitfalls, most notably the Red Cross Society of China scandal. He explores the novel use of social media and online platforms by the public and compares civic engagement today to the response to the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan.
Bin Xu is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Emory University. His research interests lie at the intersection of politics and culture. He is the author of, "The Politics of Compassion: The Sichuan Earthquake and Civic Engagement in China" (Stanford University Press, 2017). Dr. Xu is currently writing a book on the collective memory of China’s “educated youth” (zhiqing) generation—the 17 million Chinese youth sent down to the countryside in the 1960s and 1970s. His research has appeared in leading sociology and China studies journals, including Theory & Society, Sociological Theory, Social Problems, Social Psychology Quarterly, China Quarterly, and The China Journal. Dr. Xu is a National Committee on U.S.-China Relations Public Intellectuals Program fellow.