Jieluan Huang
PhD title: The Politics of the Body: Rural-Urban Migrant Women in China’s Reform Era
My research is situated at the intersection of medical humanities and socioeconomic studies, investigating the experiences of rural migrant women during China’s economic reform era. Conceiving the body as a text, the study reveals traces of forces and operational mechanisms of power. It acknowledges macro-level factors such as national development, familial processes, migration policies, healthcare, and welfare systems, shaping the life dynamics of rural migrant females. Concurrently at a micro-level, employing an oral history approach, the research investigates participants' memories, encompassing topics ranging from the commodification of female sexuality and labour to marital choices, reproductive behaviour and rights, illness, ageing, and body image. In challenging the "oppression-liberation" paradigm, I seek to emancipate women from simplistic victimisation narratives in Chinese historiography, revealing their tactical strategies, agency, and intrinsic qualities of resilience in rapid social and economic development.
Supervisors: Dr Caitjan Gainty, Dr. Konstatinos Tsimonis
Biography
I began my undergraduate studies in History at the University of Warwick in 2018 and completed my postgraduate training in History at the University College London in 2022. During this period, I was introduced to medical humanities and social anthropology, which shaped my interdisciplinary approach. My MA dissertation, exploring the commodification of the female body and sexuality in China's modern history, serves as the foundation for my PhD research.
As a historian of STM, my research interests have focused on the body, gender, public policy, social mobility, and economic development. Also affiliated with the Lau China Institute, my research applies a Western medical and health humanities approach to analysing China's society and conceptions of the state, community, and individual.
Conference papers
"Actor, Agency, and Biopower: A Medical History Perspective in Chinese Society," Humanities, Technology, and Governance in Chinese Modernization Forum, hosted by Beihang University in Beijing, December 2023.
"Women in Rural-Urban Migration: An Oral History Approach," ChiNESS (China in Social Sciences) Conference, University of Sheffield, June 2023.