Authoritarian Absorption: The Transnational Remaking of Epidemic Politics in China

Between 1978 and 2018, China’s infectious disease system went through collapse, reinvention, and dramatic expansion. This talk demonstrates how unlikely players—foreign health organizations, Chinese officials, and grassroots activists—together reshaped epidemic control. Their interactions not only strengthened public health institutions but also reinforced authoritarian rule. These struggles left a lasting mark: they set the organizational infrastructure for China’s handling of COVID-19 and even opened new space for groups such as urban gay men to claim rights. The talk invites us to think about how authoritarian states absorb global liberal rules and professional practices—less to liberalize, and more to consolidate power and project strength.

About the Speaker

Yan Long is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a political and organizational sociologist whose research examines how globalization and authoritarian politics intersect in domains such as public health, civic action, and digital technology. Her award-winning articles have appeared in the American Journal of Sociology, the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, and Social Science & Medicine, among others. Her new book, Authoritarian Absorption: The Transnational Remaking of Epidemic Politics in China (Oxford University Press), has received four national distinctions, including the 2025 Best Book on Asia from the American Sociological Association.

The ANU China Seminar Series is supported by the Australian Centre on China in the World at ANU College of Asia and the Pacific.