Prior to starting my DPhil in Area Studies (China) at OSGA, I completed a MSc in Contemporary China Studies in the department, and a BA in Social Anthropology at the LSE (2020). My research concerns the impact of digital innovations on the lived experience of Chinese elderlies. In particular, I am interested in the digital with regard to relations, practices and responsibilities of care. Through an ethnographic lens, I seek to understand the extent to which elderlies are marginalised with China being at the cutting-edge of digital innovations.
DPhil topic
The stark contrast between the Chinese state’s celebration of digital innovations for national development, and recent news of digitally illiterate elderlies being starved to death at home during the Covid pandemic, calls for an urgent understanding of the aged-based digital inequalities in China. Focusing on the topics of ageing and digital technologies in China, I seek to investigate the impact of digital innovations on the lived experience of Chinese elderlies. While most existing research on these topics are primarily quantitative, through ethnographic research, I hope to explore the digital divide from the perspectives of the elderlies. By exploring the intersection between digital technologies and wider sociocultural context, I want to unsettle any unexamined assumptions of what constitutes digital technologies and ageing in contemporary China.
