Yan Long

I am an assistant professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. My primary research and teaching interests span the domains of global health, transnational advocacy, authoritarian states, and culture/knowledge. My research has received seven national awards in political sociology, international development, and social movement studies among others.

What makes illnesses and bodily sufferings visible in politics? How do they disappear from public view? How does such visibility and invisibility affect the self-perception of one’s body? I take on these questions by emphasizing the impact of globalization by studying empirical issues such as HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and long-term medical care for the elderly.

While continuing the focus on globalization, my other line of research shifts attention to the interaction between technology, quantification, and civic action. For example, I am examining how evaluation tools and digital technology shape the power of authoritarian governments. In doing so, I am also exploring how to conduct quantitative research and content analysis as an ethnographer.

Before coming to Berkeley, I worked as an assistant professor of International Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington and a postdoctoral fellow at the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society after receiving my joint Ph.D. in sociology and women’s studies from the University of Michigan. I also hold both a Master’s and a Bachelor’s degree in sociology from Beijing University in China. My previous research examined the intersection of labor, gender, and sexualities. I was born and raised in southern China, where I developed my love for spicy food and aimless wandering.