[Air-L] Conference Info – Digital Statecraft and Political Economy in China

[Rongbin Han]

Dear colleagues,

I am writing to share the following conference information for those who
may be interested.

Cheers!
Rongbin

*Digital Statecraft and Political Economy in China Conference*
*May 8-9, 2026*
*University of California, Berkeley*
*Conference website:* *www.dspeconference.com*
<http://www.dspeconference.com/>

Digital technologies—from big data, AI, and algorithmic governance to cloud
computing and data infrastructures—are transforming how states drive
development, govern society, exercise authority, and compete globally. This
conference brings together fourteen in-depth qualitative studies that
examine how state actors deploy digital tools in practice, and how
political institutions shape technological development.

Focusing on China as a strategically significant and theoretically
generative case, the conference opens the “black box” of digital governance
beyond dominant computational approaches and macro-level analyses. The
papers foreground core political science concerns, including state
capacity, bureaucratic behavior, regulatory governance, and state–business
relations. Moving beyond conventional “digital authoritarianism”
frameworks, the conference highlights on-the-ground politics, institutional
constraints, and the organizational dynamics that mediate how digital power
is exercised.

The papers engage broader debates on the transformation of the state under
digitalization, the political economy of data, platforms, digital
industries, and the shifting terrain of geopolitical competition.

Interdisciplinary and international in scope, the conference features
scholars from four continents. It will be held at UC Berkeley and is open
to the public, with *both onsite and online* participation. Breakfast and
lunch will be provided for onsite attendees. Registration is required;
online access details will be shared upon registration.

*Register here:*
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdqfT0H_0j6GL2RT50n_AQgHMcU37MKBoHqxDcDI0hv0knFpQ/viewform

*Organizers:*
Yan Long, UC Berkeley, Department of Sociology
Le Lin, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Department of Sociology
Zhifan Luo, McMaster University, Department of Sociology

*Sponsors:*
UC Berkeley Sociology Department, Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative,
Fudan-UC Center

*Contact*
For questions regarding the conference, registration, or attendance, please
contact the coordinator, Zhehang Zhang (UC Berkeley, Department of
Sociology) at zhehang at berkeley.edu


____
Rongbin Han
Professor
Department of International Affairs
University of Georgia
*Make China Great Again
<https://cup.columbia.edu/book/make-china-great-again/9780231220545/>*
(Columbia
UP, 2026)
*Contesting Cyberspace in China
<https://cup.columbia.edu/book/contesting-cyberspace-in-china/9780231184755>*
(Columbia
UP, 2018)
*Directed Digital Dissidence in Autocracies
<https://global.oup.com/academic/product/directed-digital-dissidence-in-autocracies-9780197680384>*
 (Oxford UP, 2023) with J. Gainous, A. MacDonald, and K. Wagner
*The Xi Jinping Effect
<https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295752815/the-xi-jinping-effect/>* (U.
Washington Press, 2024), co-edited with A. Esarey

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