<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>Dear colleagues,</div><div><br></div><div>I am writing to share the following conference information for those who may be interested. </div><div><br></div><div>Cheers!</div><div>Rongbin</div><div><div><div style="border:0px;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-variant-alternates:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-size:15px;line-height:inherit;font-size-adjust:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(36,36,36)"><div style="border-width:1pt medium medium;border-style:solid none none;border-color:rgb(225,225,225) currentcolor currentcolor;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:3pt 0in 0in;vertical-align:baseline;color:inherit"><p><font face="arial, sans-serif"><strong>Digital Statecraft and Political Economy in China Conference</strong><br><strong>May 8-9, 2026</strong><br><strong>University of California, Berkeley</strong><br><strong>Conference website:</strong> <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.dspeconference.com/" title="http://www.dspeconference.com/" target="_blank" style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><b>www.dspeconference.com</b></a><u></u><u></u></font></p></div></div><div style="border:0px;font-variant-numeric:inherit;font-variant-east-asian:inherit;font-variant-alternates:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-size:15px;line-height:inherit;font-size-adjust:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(36,36,36)"><p><span style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:black"><font face="arial, sans-serif">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.<u></u><u></u></font></span></p><p><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,0,0)">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.</span><br></font></p><p><span style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:black"><font face="arial, sans-serif">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.<u></u><u></u></font></span></p><p><span style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:black"><font face="arial, sans-serif">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 <b>both onsite and online</b> participation. Breakfast and lunch will be provided for onsite attendees. Registration is required; online access details will be shared upon registration.<u></u><u></u></font></span></p><p><strong><span style="border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size-adjust:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:inherit">Register here:</span></strong><br><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdqfT0H_0j6GL2RT50n_AQgHMcU37MKBoHqxDcDI0hv0knFpQ/viewform" title="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdqfT0H_0j6GL2RT50n_AQgHMcU37MKBoHqxDcDI0hv0knFpQ/viewform" target="_blank" style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdqfT0H_0j6GL2RT50n_AQgHMcU37MKBoHqxDcDI0hv0knFpQ/viewform</a><u></u><u></u></p><p><strong><span style="border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size-adjust:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:inherit">Organizers:</span></strong><br><span style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:inherit">Yan</span> <span style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:inherit">Long</span>, UC Berkeley, Department of Sociology<br>Le Lin, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Department of Sociology<br>Zhifan Luo, McMaster University, Department of Sociology<u></u><u></u></p><p><strong><span style="border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size-adjust:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:inherit">Sponsors:</span></strong><br>UC Berkeley Sociology Department, Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative, Fudan-UC Center<u></u><u></u></p><p><strong><span style="border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size-adjust:inherit;font-kerning:inherit;font-feature-settings:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:inherit">Contact</span></strong><br>For questions regarding the conference, registration, or attendance, please contact the coordinator, Zhehang Zhang (UC Berkeley, Department of Sociology) at <a href="mailto:zhehang@berkeley.edu" title="mailto:zhehang@berkeley.edu" target="_blank" style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline">zhehang@berkeley.edu</a></p></div></div><div><br></div></div><div><br></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>____<br>Rongbin Han</div><div>Professor<br></div><div>Department of International Affairs</div><div>University of Georgia</div><div><div style="border:0px;font-stretch:inherit;font-size:11pt;line-height:inherit;font-family:Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size-adjust:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;direction:ltr;color:black"><i><a title="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/make-china-great-again/9780231220545/" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/make-china-great-again/9780231220545/" style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline" target="_blank">Make China Great Again</a></i> (Columbia UP, 2026)</div><div style="border:0px;font-stretch:inherit;font-size:11pt;line-height:inherit;font-family:Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size-adjust:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;direction:ltr;color:black"><i><a title="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/contesting-cyberspace-in-china/9780231184755" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/contesting-cyberspace-in-china/9780231184755" style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline" target="_blank">Contesting Cyberspace in China</a></i> (Columbia UP, 2018)</div><div style="border:0px;font-stretch:inherit;font-size:11pt;line-height:inherit;font-family:Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size-adjust:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(36,36,36);direction:ltr"><span style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(17,133,215)"><i><a title="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/directed-digital-dissidence-in-autocracies-9780197680384" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/directed-digital-dissidence-in-autocracies-9780197680384" style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline" target="_blank">Directed Digital Dissidence in Autocracies</a></i></span><span style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(68,68,68)"> </span><span style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:black">(Oxford UP, 2023) with J. Gainous, A. MacDonald, and K. Wagner</span></div><div style="border:0px;font-stretch:inherit;font-size:11pt;line-height:inherit;font-family:Calibri,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size-adjust:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;direction:ltr;color:black"><span style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:inherit"><i><a title="https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295752815/the-xi-jinping-effect/" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295752815/the-xi-jinping-effect/" style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline" target="_blank">The Xi Jinping Effect</a></i> (U. Washington Press, 2024), co-edited with A. Esarey</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-7824764530979155518"><br>
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