Hengfeng Zhao

Profile

My research broadly focuses on authoritarian and illiberal norms within non-Western contexts.

My doctoral thesis examines how member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation localise illiberal counter-terrorism, anti-extremism, and anti-separatism norms across discourse, legislation, and societal levels. It also investigates the factors that account for variations in these localisation approaches. In this thesis, I employ a set-theoretic multi-method approach, combining qualitative comparative analysis and (comparative) case studies.

Research interests

• Building upon my thesis's typology of anti-extremism practices, I lead and collaborate with other researchers to compare anti-extremism practices across Bangladesh, China, Nigeria, and Somalia.
• I have a side project, forthcoming in Global Studies Quarterly, that explains the differing reception of human rights and non-intervention norms, as promoted by China and Russia, among 28 non-Western middle powers.
• Focusing on ideology at the national level, I also study how Sinophone YouTuber vloggers critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) express anti-CCP political opinions. These opinions often overlap with populist and illiberal values. For this topic, I have two side projects employing different methodologies: critical discourse analysis and qualitative comparative analysis.
• Drawn to the study of norms, another ongoing project attempts to extend current norm research by exploring how norms can be simultaneously contingent and regulative. This project illustrates this theoretical discussion through the case of how the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation responds to Russian invasions.

Qualifications

• Joint Master of Arts in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University and Nanjing University