I am a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Toronto. I earned a B.A. in Persian Language and Literature at Peking University, and a MA in Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University. My work is supported by a grant from the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange and appears in Current Sociology and Routledge Handbook on Middle Eastern Diasporas.
My doctoral dissertation examines Hui Muslims who broker trade deals between Middle Eastern importers and Chinese suppliers. Drawing primarily on ethnographic fieldwork in China’s global trade hub, Yiwu, the dissertation examines the labor and identity formation of Chinese Muslims working as Chinese-Arabic or Chinese-Persian translators for Middle Eastern importers in Yiwu. The dissertation contributes to a transnational perspective on ethnicity and economy in China and a relational work approach to economic lives.
Situated at the intersection of economic sociology and race, ethnicity and migration studies, my work examines the relational process of global market-making, and the transnational construction of ethnic relations and identity. My work combines qualitative methods, including ethnography, interviews, and discourse analysis.
