Jeff Wasserstrom (Irvine)

Hong Kong during the last three decades and the tightening of political controls in the city over the course of the last several years. The presenter will draw on his work as a specialist in the history of social movements and also his observations during recent trips to Hong Kong, including one that took place while the 2014 Umbrella Movement was underway. In addition to highlighting distinctive features of Hong Kong that set it apart from all other places, the talk will explore some parallels that can be drawn between the city during various parts of its history and other urban centers, including both Shanghai and, more unexpectedly perhaps, Berlin.

Jeffrey Wasserstrom is Chancellor’s Professor of History and Chair of the Department at the University of California, Irvine, where he also holds courtesy appointments in Law and Literary Journalism. His books include, as author, Student Protests in Twentieth Century China (1991); as editor, The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern China (2016), and as co-author, the third edition of China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know (2018). In addition to writing for various scholarly periodicals, his reviews and commentaries have appeared in general interest publications such as the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Atlantic, and the Wall Street Journal. He is a former editor of the Journal of Asian Studies (2008-2018) and was a co-founder of both The China Beat (2008-2012) and the Los Angeles Review of Books's China Channel (2017-).

Website: https://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=5310