Public lecture: Prof. Reza Hasmath, "Civic Engagement, Volunteerism and Philanthropy in Contemporary China" (25.01.2023)

The Department of Sinology welcomes all students as well as everybody who is interested to this semester's last lecture. The lecture will be held on 25 January 2023 (18:00) in room 17 (Übungsraum 17, Philosophiegebäude) by Prof. Reza Hasmath (University of Alberta) on "Civic Engagement, Volunteerism and Philanthropy in Contemporary China".

Abstract

This talk explores the relationship between volunteerism, philanthropy and civic engagement in contemporary China. It will discuss the new forms of citizen-led initiatives that are complementary to, or supplanting, state-led ones. More broadly, the talk unpacks how notions of citizenship – and what it means to be a “good citizen” – are influenced by the increase of volunteerism and philanthropy. These salient queries are examined with the aid of the 2018, 2020 and 2022 Civic Participation in China Survey (CPCS).

Brief biography

Reza Hasmath (Ph.D., Cambridge) is a Full Professor in Political Science at the University of Alberta. He has previously held faculty positions in management, sociology and political science at the Universities of Toronto, Melbourne and Oxford, and has worked for think-tanks, consultancies, development agencies, and NGOs in USA, Canada, Australia, UK and China. His award-winning research looks at evolving state-society relationships in authoritarian contexts.