Lecturer
Dr Yao-Tai Li
PhD (University of California, San Diego) MA (National Taiwan University) BA (National Taiwan University)
Arts,Design & Architecture
School of Social Sciences
Yao-Tai is a lecturer of Sociology and Social Policy in the School of Social Sciences at UNSW. His research interests include Race and Ethnicity, Identity, Migration, Work and Labour, Contentious Politics, and Social Media. Prior to joining UNSW, Yao-Tai was an assistant professor of sociology at Hong Kong Baptist University (2017-2021). His Ph.D. dissertation examines under what circumstances and how migrants from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong draw boundaries within the pan-Chinese identity in Australia, as well as the cultural and economic meanings of co-ethnic exploitation in the Australian cash-in-hand labour market, and policy implications.
Recently, Yao-Tai has been conducting research into Hong Kong's contentious politics through various perspectives such as urban sociology, cultural politics, global networks, and data activism. His other work includes timely research related to the COVID-19 pandemic by adopting big data analytics to examine social media discourses.
E-mail
Location
Level 1, Room 123, Morven Brown Building
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
2023 Asia Study Grants, National Library of Australia
2023 School of Social Sciences Research Grant – Individual Research Strategy Scheme
2022 Arts, Design and Architecture (ADA) Faculty Research Grant – Seed Funding Scheme
2022 Arts, Design and Architecture (ADA) Faculty Research Grants Scheme (SPF02)
2021 The Sigma Awards for Data Journalism (Project: Hong Kong Lennon Wall Collection)
2021 45th The Golden Tripod Awards for Publication (Digital Publishing category – Digital Content award), Ministry of Culture, Taiwan
2021 25th Human Rights Press Awards (Multimedia), The Foreign Correspondents’ Club Hong Kong, Amnesty International, and the Hong Kong Journalists Association
2021 Best Presentation Award, European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS) Annual Conference
2020 A. Noam Chomsky Rising Star Emerging Scholar Award, Society of Transnational Academic Researchers (STAR)
2020 Faculty Early Career Teaching Award, Hong Kong Baptist University
2017 Dissertation Writing Award, Department of Sociology, UCSD
2016 Graduate Student Paper Award, Racial and Ethnic Minorities Division, Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP)
2016 American Sociological Association Student Forum Travel Award
2016 The Lee Student Travel Fund Award, Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP)
2015 Young Scholar Award, China Times Cultural Foundation, New York
2014 Summer Research Grant Awards, Department of Sociology, UCSD
2013–14 UC California Studies Consortium (UCCSC) Award, University of California Humanities Research Institute (UCHRI)
2013 The Dean of Social Science Research Fund Award, UCSD
Book Project
Lennon Walls: Co-authoring Contentious Repertoires through Protest Walls
Other Ongoing Projects
Channeling Exploitation? The Role of Co-Ethnic Agent
The Everyday Interaction and Boundary Making/Unmaking between Mainland Skilled Professionals and Locals in Hong Kong
The Changing Rhetoric of Racial Discrimination against Chinese Migrants in Australia after 1973
Ad-hoc Reviewer for Journals
American Journal of Sociology, Asian Anthropology, Big Data & Society, British Journal of Sociology, Canadian Review of Sociology, China Perspectives, Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning, Critical Sociology, Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Current Psychology, Current Sociology, Development and Society, Economic and Labour Relations Review, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Europe-Asia Studies, European Journal of Social Psychology, Hong Kong Studies, Human Relations, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, International Journal of Hospitality Management, International Migration, International Migration Review, International Sociology, Internet Research, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, Journal of Labor and Society, Journal of Youth Studies, Nationalities Papers, New Media & Society, Patterns of Prejudice, Political Psychology, Qualitative Sociology, SAGE Open, Social Inclusion, Social Movement Studies, Social Transformations in Chinese Societies, Sociological Inquiry, Sociological Quarterly, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, The Sociological Review, Urban Affairs Review, Urban Studies, Work, Employment and Society
2023–27 Board Members, RC 31 Sociology of Migration, International Sociology Association
2023– SOSS Representative, ADA Early Career Academic Network (ECAN), UNSW
2023 Coding for 2023 Digital Society Project (DSP) Expert Cycle
2022– International Advisory Board, British Journal of Sociology
2022– Research Committee Member, School of Social Sciences, UNSW
2022– Executive Council Member of Australian Taiwanese Friendship Association
2022 Workshop Facilitator for Year 10 Experience Day for High School Students, UNSW
2021–24 Editorial Board, Work, Employment and Society
2022 Program Committee, International Conference on Social Media & Society (SMSociety22)
2021 Organizing Committee, Work, Employment and Society Conference
2021 A. Noam Chomsky Global Connections Awards Committee, Society of Transnational Academic Researchers
2021 Awards Judge for Networks 2021: A Joint Sunbelt and NetSci Conference
2020– Expert Roster for Peer Review of United Nations Networks on Migration
2019– Features Editor, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism
2019 Award Judge & Commentator for the 7th Global Social Sciences Graduate Student Conference, HKBU
2018 Discussant for a regular session “Encompassing Margins: Globalizing Race and Ethnicity” at the Annual Meeting of ASA. Philadelphia, PA.
2017 Graduate Student Paper Award Committee, Racial and Ethnic Minorities Division, Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP)
2014– Executive Council Member of Taiwan Working Holiday Youth (T-WHY)
Professional Association Membership
Association for Asian Studies (AAS)
American Sociological Association (ASA)
Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism (ASEN)
British Sociological Association (BSA)
European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS)
International Sociological Association (ISA)
Society for Hong Kong Studies
Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP)
Taiwanese Sociological Association (TSA)
The Australian Sociological Association (TASA)
My Teaching
• ARTS 2870 Citizens, Action, and Dissent
• SOSS 3001 Quantitative Social Research
• SRAP 5021 Policy, Advocacy and Activism in the Digital Age