Tianmu Hong is a PhD candidate at the LIAS

More information about Tianmu Hong

PhD research

Working Title:
Chinese expatriates: subjectivity, networking and the edifice of China’s globalization in Europe

Description:
My thesis is about a dynamic process of self-making and being-made within webs of power, in a particular context of displacement. This context was generated in a reversed flow of globalization, where people from the former peripheries assumed leading roles in the (previous) center of the world. I would like to explore the “life politics” (Giddens 1991) and business strategies of Chinese expatriate managers when they were exploring European territories from the vantage point of being the agents of Chinese business development and national revival.

These Chinese “globalizers” formed crucial links between China’s grand political and economic plans of globalization and their everyday execution. Most importantly, cherishing their individual dreams, they are highly creative in reconciling their personal pursuing with goals advocated by the state or enterprises behind them.  Their process of self-making is also a process of shaping the edifice of China’s national-images and business expansion in Europe.

Short CV

Education

• Sep. 2017 – present: Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands, PhD candidate at Leiden Institute for Area Studies. Research topic: Chinese expatriates: subjectivity, networking and the edifice of China’s globalization. Advisors: Prof. Michael Herzfeld and Prof. Frank Pieke
• Sep.2005 – Oct.2006: University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, Visual Anthropology (MA with distinction). Thesis: Symbolic power and resistance in display during the Chinese College Entrance Examinations Film accompanied the thesis: “Summer’s Smile”. 2006. Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology     
• Sep.2004 – July 2005: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, Cultures and Development Studies (MA Cum Laude). Thesis: The “Golden Lotus” and the “Lady Worrier”: dilemma of women’s virtue in Chinese culture
• Sep.1999 – July 2003: Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China. Art Education (BA with distinction)

Work Experience

• Mar. 2022 – July 2022: Guest lecturer at LIAS, Leiden University
• July 2019 – Oct. 2019: Mercator Institute for China Studies, Berlin, Germany. Researcher in the project: China’s roles and impact in Noord-Brabant, Netherlands.
• July 2018 – Dec. 2018: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Research assistant in the project: Chinese investment in the Netherlands.
• Dec. 2016 – Jun. 2017: Leiden Asia Centre, Leiden, Netherlands. Research Assistant in the project: Assessing China’s influence in Europe through investments in technology and infrastructure: four cases.
• Nov. 2015 – Dec. 2016: Leiden Asia Centre, Leiden, Netherlands. Researcher responsible for projects: Chinese investment in the Netherlands & Chinese students in the Netherlands
• Jan. 2014 – present: Eye Moment Studio, Delft, Netherlands, Freelancing in film production and culture services.
• Feb.2011-Dec. 2013: The Hague Bureau, Xinhua News Agency, The Hague, Netherlands Video journalist.
• April.2010: Hochschule Osnabrück, Lingen, Germany, Guest lecturer for courses on intercultural communication.
• Feb.2010-Apr. 2010: InHolland Hoogschool, Haarlem, Netherlands. Guest lecturer for courses on intercultural communication.
• Aug.2007 - Mar. 2008: Nanguang College, Communication Univ. of China, Nanjing, China Assistant Professor, Visual anthropology.
• July 2007 – Dec. 2008: Honest Films, London, UK. Researcher of Chinese culture and market, China Branch.

Publications

• Hong, T. M., F. N. Pieke, and T. Stam. "Chinese Companies in the Netherlands." (2017). Link: https://leidenasiacentre.nl/wpcontent/uploads/2017/06/Report-Chinese-companies-in-the-Netherlands-2017-final-.pdf. Access date: Dec 06, 2017.
• Hong. T.M., F. N. Pieke, L. Steehouder and J. van Veldhuizen. “Chinese Students in the Netherlands.” (2017). Link:https://leidenasiacentre.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Report-Chinese-students-in-the-Netherlands-2017-final.pdf. Access date: Oct. 05, 2019.
• Ferchen, M., F. N. Pieke, F. van der Putten, T.M. Hong and J. de Blécourt. “Assessing China’s Influence in Europe through Investments in Technology and Infrastructure: Four Cases.” (2018). Link: https://leidenasiacentre.nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Influencein-Europe-through-Investments-and-Technology-anf-infra.pdf. Access date: Oct. 05, 2019.