Svetlana Kharchenkova is Assistant Professor at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies.

More information about Svetlana Kharchenkova

Research

Svetlana Kharchenkova is working on a book project devoted to the development of the market for contemporary art in China. The project approaches the art market from the perspectives of cultural and economic sociology and relies on ethnographic and archival data collected primarily in Beijing. It studies market development from a global perspective, and focuses on various aspects of market emergence, such as institution-building and valuation.

Her second research project funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) is titled “Foreign Books in China, Cultural Control and Technology.” It focuses on the book publishing industry in contemporary China. To understand how foreign books become available in China, it studies everyday practices of editors and translators who select and prepare foreign books for publication. Paying special attention to state control and technology, this project investigates the fate of foreign books in contemporary China.

Teaching activities and supervision

• Sociology and anthropology of modern China (BA Chinastudies)
• Contemporary Chinese society and globalization (BA Chinastudies)
• Creativity and culture in contemporary China (MA Asian Studies)
• Introduction to Asian studies (MA and ResMA Asian Studies)
• Thesis seminar (BA International Studies)

Education

2017: PhD in Sociology. Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), University of Amsterdam
2011: Research MA in Area Studies, specialization Chinese Studies (cum laude). Leiden University (minor in Dutch Studies)
2006: Specialist (Russian five-year degree) in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, specialization Mandarin Chinese. Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow
2005: One-year exchange program (2004-2005) in Chinese language and culture, advanced level. Peking University, International College for Chinese Language Studies, Beijing 

Grants and awards

(selection)

2022-2025: VENI grant of the Dutch Research Council (NWO)
2019-2020: A ten-month full-time research fellowship at the International Institute for Asian Studies (the Netherlands). [declined]
2018-2019: Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Research Grant, administered by the Asia Art Archive (Hong Kong and New York).
2017: Best PhD paper Research Award, European Sociological Association, the Sociology of the Arts Research Network.

Publications