Jun (Philip) Fang
@philipjfang.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Toronto | Culture, creativity, globalization, censorship, ethnography | Book on China & Hollywood in progress | philipjunfang.com
Pinned
The Culture of Censorship: State Intervention and Complicit Creativity in Global Film Production - Jun Fang, 2024
How does state censorship shape global creative production? To explore the merger of art and the state in a global context, I adopt a micro-sociological approac...
doi.org
Excited to share that I’ve won the 2025 Clifford Geertz Prize for Best Article from the ASA Sociology of Culture Section. I'm grateful to the award committee for this honor, and to my intellectual community whose constructive feedback helped shape the piece.
doi.org/10.1177/0003...
doi.org/10.1177/0003...
"There are two lessons from the history of the C.I.A. book program... One is that censorship — whether by Communists, fascists or democratic governments — tends to create demand for the works it targets. The other is that the totalitarians lost the Cold War, and freedom of thought won the day."
Opinion | ‘1984’ Hasn’t Changed, but America Has
www.nytimes.com
July 28, 2025 at 3:34 PM
"There are two lessons from the history of the C.I.A. book program... One is that censorship — whether by Communists, fascists or democratic governments — tends to create demand for the works it targets. The other is that the totalitarians lost the Cold War, and freedom of thought won the day."
Amazing story about the MingKwai Chinese typewriter, invented by Lin Yutang! Thanks, @tsmullaney.bsky.social!
A Professor’s Hunt for the Rarest Chinese Typewriter
www.nytimes.com
July 22, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Amazing story about the MingKwai Chinese typewriter, invented by Lin Yutang! Thanks, @tsmullaney.bsky.social!
It’s a privilege to be recognized alongside two incredible scholars. 👍👍
May 19, 2025 at 3:29 PM
It’s a privilege to be recognized alongside two incredible scholars. 👍👍
Excited to share that I’ve won the 2025 Clifford Geertz Prize for Best Article from the ASA Sociology of Culture Section. I'm grateful to the award committee for this honor, and to my intellectual community whose constructive feedback helped shape the piece.
doi.org/10.1177/0003...
doi.org/10.1177/0003...
The Culture of Censorship: State Intervention and Complicit Creativity in Global Film Production - Jun Fang, 2024
How does state censorship shape global creative production? To explore the merger of art and the state in a global context, I adopt a micro-sociological approac...
doi.org
May 19, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Excited to share that I’ve won the 2025 Clifford Geertz Prize for Best Article from the ASA Sociology of Culture Section. I'm grateful to the award committee for this honor, and to my intellectual community whose constructive feedback helped shape the piece.
doi.org/10.1177/0003...
doi.org/10.1177/0003...
Reposted by Jun (Philip) Fang
I'm delighted to share that Max Besbris and I won the 2025 Distinguished Scholarly Publication Award from the ASA Consumers and Consumption Section for our article, "Relational Brokerage: Interaction and Valuation in Two Markets," published in Qualitative Sociology. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Relational Brokerage: Interaction and Valuation in Two Markets - Qualitative Sociology
Across various markets, consumers rely on brokers to help them select goods. How do brokers shape consumers’ valuation? We address this question by drawing from two independent but analogous ethnograp...
link.springer.com
May 14, 2025 at 7:40 PM
I'm delighted to share that Max Besbris and I won the 2025 Distinguished Scholarly Publication Award from the ASA Consumers and Consumption Section for our article, "Relational Brokerage: Interaction and Valuation in Two Markets," published in Qualitative Sociology. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Looking forward 👍
Looking forward to sharing my book at the Colby College Sociology colloquium on Thursday!
@mayrl.bsky.social @philipjfang.bsky.social
@mayrl.bsky.social @philipjfang.bsky.social
February 19, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Looking forward 👍
Kicking off the first day of classes by giving the students in my Contemporary Chinese Society seminar red envelopes 💸💸
🧧 from the funniest Ronny Chieng
🧧 from the funniest Ronny Chieng
February 6, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Kicking off the first day of classes by giving the students in my Contemporary Chinese Society seminar red envelopes 💸💸
🧧 from the funniest Ronny Chieng
🧧 from the funniest Ronny Chieng
Is the TikTok saga a drama or a comedy? Or the perfect dramedy? 😅
I know I will write about Xiaohongshu/RedNote one day, but I didn’t expect it to be today:
It’s #1 downloaded app in the US today. Why? Because the TikTok ban is pushing users to join another Chinese app out of spite. Also, they call themselves the “TikTok refugees.”
www.wired.com/story/red-no...
It’s #1 downloaded app in the US today. Why? Because the TikTok ban is pushing users to join another Chinese app out of spite. Also, they call themselves the “TikTok refugees.”
www.wired.com/story/red-no...
With a TikTok Ban Looming, Users Flee to Chinese App ‘Red Note’
Some say they joined Xiaohongshu, which translates to "little red book," to spite the US government after a ban on TikTok became more likely.
www.wired.com
January 13, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Is the TikTok saga a drama or a comedy? Or the perfect dramedy? 😅
Even more inspiring, the filmmakers of "Sing Sing" experimented with an alternative model of film financing—paying everyone on set, from PAs to the director and star, the same wage and giving all equity. In an industry rife with inequality, it’s refreshing to see some folks pushing for real change.
December 28, 2024 at 5:25 PM
Even more inspiring, the filmmakers of "Sing Sing" experimented with an alternative model of film financing—paying everyone on set, from PAs to the director and star, the same wage and giving all equity. In an industry rife with inequality, it’s refreshing to see some folks pushing for real change.
Just watched A24's "Sing Sing," a powerful film about incarcerated men finding purpose by acting. It brought me back to a piece I wrote for the NYTimes a decade ago, featuring Tim Robbins and his team’s inspiring work using theater to help inmates rebuild their lives.
cn.nytimes.com/education/20...
cn.nytimes.com/education/20...
铁栏与面具之后：用戏剧影响囚犯
曾出演《肖申克救赎》的美国演员蒂姆·罗宾斯发起“监狱计划”，连续八年将戏剧培训带入加州监狱，以达到艺术矫正囚犯的效果。这一项目对中国的监狱也有借鉴意义。
cn.nytimes.com
December 28, 2024 at 5:14 PM
Just watched A24's "Sing Sing," a powerful film about incarcerated men finding purpose by acting. It brought me back to a piece I wrote for the NYTimes a decade ago, featuring Tim Robbins and his team’s inspiring work using theater to help inmates rebuild their lives.
cn.nytimes.com/education/20...
cn.nytimes.com/education/20...
White Christmas 🎄❄️
December 25, 2024 at 2:25 PM
White Christmas 🎄❄️
The entire December issue of our flagship journal is quantitative. And among the seven articles, six are solely about the United States.
December 23, 2024 at 5:37 PM
The entire December issue of our flagship journal is quantitative. And among the seven articles, six are solely about the United States.
Reposted by Jun (Philip) Fang
My new book (Authoritarian Absorption: The Transnational Remaking of Epidemic Politics in China) drops! Wanna know how China gained capacities dealing with COVID-19? Why gay rights can be illiberal? Etc. check it out! www.amazon.com/Authoritaria...
Authoritarian Absorption: The Transnational Remaking of Epidemic Politics in China
Amazon.com: Authoritarian Absorption: The Transnational Remaking of Epidemic Politics in China: 9780190900199: Long, Yan: Books
www.amazon.com
December 12, 2024 at 9:40 PM
My new book (Authoritarian Absorption: The Transnational Remaking of Epidemic Politics in China) drops! Wanna know how China gained capacities dealing with COVID-19? Why gay rights can be illiberal? Etc. check it out! www.amazon.com/Authoritaria...
It’s grading season, and this poem hits close to home for many of us 😅
December 7, 2024 at 6:01 PM
It’s grading season, and this poem hits close to home for many of us 😅
This new book, Authoritarian Absorption, by @yanlong-soc.bsky.social is my most anticipated read of the year! It’s a must-read for anyone interested in transnational institutions, public health (HIV/AIDS policy in China), and authoritarianism. 📚👍
December 5, 2024 at 8:27 PM
This new book, Authoritarian Absorption, by @yanlong-soc.bsky.social is my most anticipated read of the year! It’s a must-read for anyone interested in transnational institutions, public health (HIV/AIDS policy in China), and authoritarianism. 📚👍
Reposted by Jun (Philip) Fang
Part 1 of our special issue "Thirty Years of the Internet in China" is out, open-access, with 10 articles & an Introduction
journals.sagepub.com/toc/ctpa/9/4. The remaining 14 pieces are out OnlineFirst. Thank you to our contributors! @annenbergpenn.bsky.social @cdcspenn.bsky.social
journals.sagepub.com/toc/ctpa/9/4. The remaining 14 pieces are out OnlineFirst. Thank you to our contributors! @annenbergpenn.bsky.social @cdcspenn.bsky.social
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
December 4, 2024 at 1:42 PM
Part 1 of our special issue "Thirty Years of the Internet in China" is out, open-access, with 10 articles & an Introduction
journals.sagepub.com/toc/ctpa/9/4. The remaining 14 pieces are out OnlineFirst. Thank you to our contributors! @annenbergpenn.bsky.social @cdcspenn.bsky.social
journals.sagepub.com/toc/ctpa/9/4. The remaining 14 pieces are out OnlineFirst. Thank you to our contributors! @annenbergpenn.bsky.social @cdcspenn.bsky.social
Reposted by Jun (Philip) Fang
I was quoted in this very interesting story on nationalism among overseas Chinese youth. Why and how do some young nationalists start questioning their unwavering loyalty? Read Shen’s report.
The patriotic zeal of "little pinks" doesn’t go deep, said @weirongguo.bsky.social, who found half of the students she interviewed embraced democratic ideals. Within this group, a third were former "little pinks." For many, the trigger was Beijing's Covid response. www.wsj.com/world/china/...
How a Young Chinese Nationalist Turned Her Back on Beijing
Studying overseas, a former “little pink” started questioning her patriotic education.
www.wsj.com
December 2, 2024 at 3:54 PM
I was quoted in this very interesting story on nationalism among overseas Chinese youth. Why and how do some young nationalists start questioning their unwavering loyalty? Read Shen’s report.
Reposted by Jun (Philip) Fang
I created a starter pack for sociologists studying China: go.bsky.app/NetJdDm. We study China’s labor, gender, family, inequality, organizations, education, professions, media, civil society, protests, immigration, as well as politics and history.
Let me know if you want to be added (or removed).
Let me know if you want to be added (or removed).
November 20, 2024 at 9:59 PM
I created a starter pack for sociologists studying China: go.bsky.app/NetJdDm. We study China’s labor, gender, family, inequality, organizations, education, professions, media, civil society, protests, immigration, as well as politics and history.
Let me know if you want to be added (or removed).
Let me know if you want to be added (or removed).
Reposted by Jun (Philip) Fang
In these troubling times, we should return to Stuart Hall, a remarkable political thinker and cultural analyst. #socialtheory #sociology
Stuart Hall, An Intellectual for Times of Reaction
In troubling times, we should return to Stuart Hall, a remarkable political thinker and cultural analyst.
www.theorybrief.com
October 2, 2024 at 9:27 PM
In these troubling times, we should return to Stuart Hall, a remarkable political thinker and cultural analyst. #socialtheory #sociology
March 28, 2024 at 7:40 PM
Forthcoming in ASR: “The Culture of Censorship.”
In it, I develop a micro-sociological model of censorship and coin the term “complicit creativity” that captures the censor-creator symbiosis. 🎬
In it, I develop a micro-sociological model of censorship and coin the term “complicit creativity” that captures the censor-creator symbiosis. 🎬
March 1, 2024 at 8:20 PM
Forthcoming in ASR: “The Culture of Censorship.”
In it, I develop a micro-sociological model of censorship and coin the term “complicit creativity” that captures the censor-creator symbiosis. 🎬
In it, I develop a micro-sociological model of censorship and coin the term “complicit creativity” that captures the censor-creator symbiosis. 🎬