Review

"[A] meticulously crafted piece of research....highly stimulating and important..." -- The China Journal, January 2006

Review

"Bray makes his case quite admirably. The argument is tightly woven. The framework is consistently applied. The conclusions are illuminating."—H-Net Reviews

“[A] meticulously crafted piece of research....a highly stimulating and important book....It is a fine example of the integration of social science theories with China studies...”—The China Journal

“...this book is an important contribution to the literature, a leading example of scholarship on governmentality, and one that should inspire scholars to conduct further studies of the danwei and related institutions with spatial characteristics in urban China.”—The China Review

I commenced this post at Sydney in January 2005. Prior to Sydney I lectured in Chinese Politics at the East Asia Institute, University of Cambridge, UK (2000-2004) and have previously also taught at Monash, Melbourne and RMIT. My academic training has been primarily in the areas of political and social theory and Chinese language (Mandarin). My doctoral research was on the socialist workunit (danwei) system in China, particularly focussing on its role in the governance of urban China. A book based on this research was published in 2005 (details below). Over the years I have spent more than three years in China, variously at Shandong Teachers’ University, Beijing Language Institute, Beijing University and the Chinese University of Politics and Law. My current research on community governance takes me to China at least once a year.