I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the John Jay College of the City University of New York. My research focuses on law and society, knowledge practices, and judicial politics in contemporary China. Over the past decade, I have published articles in the Law & Society Review, Law & Policy, and Sociological Forum. My book, Marriage Unbound: State Law, Power, and Inequality in Contemporary China, was published by Stanford University Press in 2022. 

Drawing on extensive archival and ethnographic data, Marriage Unbound shows how women’s legal mobilization and rights contention can forge new ground for our understanding of law and politics, as well as power and inequality, in an authoritarian context. In 2023, this book received several awards, including the Herbert Jacob Book Prize for the best book on law and society and the Victoria Schuck Award for the best book on women and politics.

In recent years, I have branched out into new research areas, focusing on the intersection of law, science, and politics. In one strand of research, I examine the strategies Chinese courts have used to incorporate outside expertise, enabling judges to approach scientists for advice. In another strand, I analyze how ordinary citizens mobilize networks of experts to build their legal actions; in so doing, they embark on not only legal--and but also epistemic--battles to contest the meanings of discrimination, unfair treatment, and equal employment opportunities. By integrating these two inquiries, I argue that Chinese courts, in recent decades, have emerged as epistemic battlefields in which different actors vie for the authority to define, harness, and disseminate “scientific truths.”