People

Dr Chen Xiaoling commenced her appointment as a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Asian Urbanisms Cluster with effect from 1 September 2025.

She received her PhD in Human Geography from the University of Colorado Boulder. Her current book project, Zero-COVID: Infrastructure and State Power in Contemporary China, examines the institutionalization and co-option of economic, political, public security, public services, and grassroots organizations in China’s COVID-19 containment. Her second writing project explores how China’s health reforms attune public employees and citizens to notions of deservingness, social hierarchy, and health inequality. Her work has appeared in Critical Asian Studies, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Made in China, and Human Organization. At ARI, Dr Chen studies China’s extraterritorial governance and the lived experiences of post-COVID Chinese diasporas.