Dr Yunyun Zhou is a political sociologist with an expertise in gender and authoritarianism, representation, political institutions, nationalism, and affects. She holds a master’s degree in Political Sociology and a PhD in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Oxford. Having previously held different positions at Sciences Po and the University of Oslo, she joined the Department of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary University of London in 2024.

Her past research has garnered international recognition in the academic field of politics and gender and offered critical insights into topics such as gender lobbying and legislation, substantive political representation, institutional changes, state feminism, and authoritarianism in East Asia and beyond. This research has resulted in publications that appeared in top-tanking journals such as Women’s Studies International Forum, Politics & Gender, Communication, Culture & Critique, and Journal of Contemporary China.

Jiang, Xinhui, and Yunyun Zhou. 2024. “When Socialist Legacy Meets International Norms: Gender Quota Adoption and Institutional Change in China.” Journal of Contemporary China 0 (0): 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2023.2299964.

Zhou, Yunyun. 2023. “Theorizing Illiberal State Feminism: Institutional Dilemmas and Political Parallelism in China’s Gender Governance.” Women’s Studies International Forum 98 (May): 102734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2023.102734.

Jiang, Xinhui, and Yunyun Zhou. 2022. “Coalition-Based Gender Lobbying: Revisiting Women’s Substantive Representation in China’s Authoritarian Governance” Politics & Gender 18(4): 978–1010. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X21000210.