Mengyang Zhao

My dissertation analyzes the emergence of new forms of youth civic engagement in China, which coincides with the repression of grassroots NGOs since 2014. Combining in-depth fieldwork with survey and content analysis, delineate the complex picture of these new types of activism and analyze the factors that have contributed to this profound development. My dissertation pays particular attention to the impact of the post-2008 socio-political conditions, state repression of civil society, and different types of transnational engagement among young activists. This study will break new ground in the scholarship on Chinese student radicalism and the developments of NGOs and civil society. It will also make new contributions to theories of transnational activism and political repression.

This book project examines the history, organization, and social implications of platform-based video game work in China. Platform game work encompasses a wide array of online services, including live game streaming, paid boosting, and game companionship, which connect clients with workers who provide entertainment or gameplay support. Drawing on interviews, participatory observation, virtual ethnography, and archival research since 2019, this study highlights the deep embeddedness of platform game work within Chinese society and its potential for global diffusion. By uncovering the distinctive politics surrounding the production and reproduction of gaming labor in China, this project challenges common assumptions about algorithmic control, labor activism, the value of play, and the future of work.