Ho-fung Hung

Ho-fung Hung

Henry M. and Elizabeth P. Wiesenfeld Professor in Political Economy

Contact Information

Research Interests: Global political economy, contentious politics, nationalism, and social theory

Education: PhD, Johns Hopkins University

I am the Henry M. and Elizabeth P. Wiesenfeld Professor in Political Economy at the  Sociology Department and the Paul H Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University. My scholarly interest includes global political economy, protest, nation-state formation, social theory, and East Asian Development. I received my bachelor degree from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, my MA degree from SUNY-Binghamton, and my PhD degree in Sociology from Johns Hopkins. Prior to joining the Hopkins faculty, I taught at the Indiana University-Bloomington.

Ho-fung Hung is  the author of the award-winning Protest with Chinese Characteristics (2011) and The China Boom: Why China Will not Rule the World (2016), both published by Columbia University Press. His articles have appeared in the American Journal of Sociology, the American Sociological Review, Development and Change, Review of International Political Economy, Asian Survey, and elsewhere. His research publications have been translated into seven different languages, and are recognized by awards from five different sections of the American Sociological Association, Social Science History Association, and the World Society Foundation of Switzerland. His analyses of the Chinese political economy and Hong Kong politics have been featured or cited in The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, BBC News, Die Presse (Austria), The Guardian, Folha de S. Paulo (Brazil), The Straits Times (Singapore),  Xinhua Monthly (China), People’s Daily (China), among other publications.

  • 230.221 Global Social Change*
  • 230.260 Political Sociology
  • 230.353 Global Social Change*
  • 230.375 Nations, States and Boundaries
  • 230.435 The China Boom
  • 230.611 Seminar on Comparative & World-Historical Sociology
  • 230. 643 Sociological Analysis

Book Awards

Protest with Chinese Characteristics: Demonstrations, Riots, and Petitions in the Mid-Qing Dynasty. New York: Columbia University Press.
*Winner of the SSHA President's Book Award 2010

China and the Transformation of Global Capitalism. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
*Selected by Choice as a key reading on China as a rising superpower

Articles

Ho-fung Hung. 2017. “World Capitalism, World Hegemony, and World Empires.” Claudio Benzecry, Monika Krause, and Isaac Ariail Reed ed. Social Theory Now. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 105-29.

Ho-fung Hung. 2017. “The Global, the Historical, and the Social in the Making of Capitalism.” Julian Go and George Lawson. ed. Global Historical Sociology. New York: Cambridge University Press. 163-81.

Ho-fung Hung 2016. “From Qing Empire to the Chinese Nation: An Incomplete Project.” Introduction in Ho-fung Hung. ed. Themed Section on “China’s Periphery Nationalisms” Nations and Nationalism. Vol. 22, No. 4. 660-665.

Ho-fung Hung and Daniel Thompson. 2016. “Money Supply, Class Power, and Inflation: Monetarism Reassessed” American Sociological Review. Vol. 81, No. 3.

Ho-fung Hung 2015. “Grandpa State instead of Bourgeois State: Patrimonial Politics in China’s Age of Commerce, 1644-1839.” Political Power and Social Theory. Vol. 25

Ho-fung Hung 2014. “Trois visions de la conscience autochtone à Hong Kong.” Critique  n° 807-808 août-septembre 2014.

* cited in Le Monde, 22 septembre 2014

Ho-fung Hung. 2013. “China: Savior or Challenger of the Dollar Hegemony?” Development and Change. Vol. 44, No. 6

Ho-fung Hung. 2013. “Labor Politics and Three Stages of Capitalism in China.” South Atlantic Quarterly. Vol 112, No. 1

Ho-fung Hung. 2012. “Marx, Weber, and the Ceaseless Accumulation of Capital” Political Power and Social Theory. Vol. 23

Ho-fung Hung and Ip Iam Chong. 2012. "Hong Kong Democratic Movement and the Making of China's Offshore Civil Society" Asian Survey. Vol. 52, No. 3.

Ho-fung Hung and Jaime Kucinskas. 2011. “Globalization and Global Inequality: Assessing the Impact of the Rise of China and India, 1980-2005.” American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 116, No. 5
* Winner of ASA’s Section on Global and Transnational Sociology and Section on the Political Economy of the World System

Ho-fung Hung and Huei-ying Kuo. 2010. “‘One Country, Two Systems’ and Its Antagonists in Tibet and Taiwan.” China Information. Vol. 24, No. 3

Ho-fung Hung. 2009. “America’s Head Servant? The PRC’s Dilemma in the Global Crisis.” New Left Review No. 60. (Lead article)
*Translated into Chinese, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Norwegian

Ho-fung Hung. 2008. “Agricultural Revolution and Elite Reproduction in Qing China: The Transition to Capitalism Debate Revisited.” American Sociological Review. Vol. 73, No. 4.

*Co-winner of ASA’s Political Sociology Section Best Article Award 2009, Asia and Asian American Section Best Research Paper Award, and honorable mention of ASA’s Comparative & Historical Sociology Best Article Award 2009.

Ho-fung Hung. 2008. “Rise of China and the Global Overaccumulation Crisis.” Review of International Political Economy. Vol. 15, No. 2. (Lead article)

Ho-fung Hung. 2003. “Orientalist Knowledge and Social Theories: China and the European Conceptions of East-West Differences from 1600 to 1900.” Sociological Theory. Vol. 21, No. 3. 254-79
*Winner of the Reinhard Bendix Award and PEWS article Award, ASA)

  • Published in Annual Reviews, July 2021
  • Published in Foreign Policy, June 5, 2020
  • Interviewed on NPR Marketplace, May 26, 2020
  • Cited in Vox, May 24, 2020
  • Cited in Los Angeles Times, May 23, 2020
  • Cited in the Washington Post, May 22, 2020
  • Cited in The Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2020
  • Cited in The Guardian, May 22, 2020
  • Cited in Vox, May 21, 2020
  • Cited in The Washington Post, May 21, 2020
  • Cited in The Guardian, May 18, 2020
  • Cited in The Guardian, May 17, 2020
  • Appeared on CNN, April 2, 2020
  • Cited in CNN article, March 28, 2020
  • Appeared in SNF Agora webcast, March 27, 2020
  • Cited in The Guardian, March 23, 2020
  • Cited in CNN article, March 17, 2020
  • Appeared on CNN, February 13, 2020
  • Cited in The Guardian, February 12, 2020
  • Interviewed on BBC Newsday, January 30, 2020
  • Interviewed in Global News, January 29, 2020
  • Interviewed in The Atlantic, January 29, 2020
  • Interviewed in The Guardian, January 22,2020
  • Participated in panel discussion, November 15, 2019
  • Cited in The Guardian, November 13, 2019
  • Cited in The Guardian, November 11, 2019
  • Featured in the podcast in Center of Strategic and International Studies, September 11, 2019
  • Interviewed in Forbes, September 4, 2019
  • Featured in The Wall Street Journal, September 3, 2019
  • Cited in The Guardian, September 1, 2019
  • Cited in Bloomberg Businessweek. August 20, 2019.
  • Interviewed on Market Place, NPR. July 30, 2019
  • Featured in Los Angeles Times. July 24, 2019.
  • Featured in The New York Times. July 22, 2019
  • Interviewed in The Wall Street Journal. July 21, 2019.
  • Interviewed in Foreign Policy. July 16, 2019.
  • Interviewed in the LA Times. June 29, 2019.
  • Interviewed in The Diplomat. June 25,2019.
  • Podcast in Hidden Forces. June 2019
  • Featured in an article in The Washington Post. June 18, 2019.
  • Interviewed and cited in The Wall Street Journal. June 16, 2019.
  • Live on CNBC. June 12, 2019.
  • Cited in an article in Financial Times. June 11, 2019.
  • Cited in an article in The Atlantic. December 2018.
  • Cited in an article in Financial Times. December 2018.
  • Cited in an article in Geneva’s Le Temps. October 2018.
  • Cited in an article in The Wall Street Journal. October 5, 2018
  • Cited in an article in The Wall Street Journal. August 6, 2018.
  • Article in Sage journals. August 1, 2018
  • Featured in an article in Deutsche Welle (DW).  March 14, 2018.
  • Interviewed in an article in The Wall Street Journal. March 12, 2018.
  • Featured as one of the 21 scholars in the TV documentary film Capitalism: A Six-Part Series (Icarus Films 2015, with English, French, German, and Chinese versions).
  • Featured in article in Kurier. April 26, 2017.
  • Featured in article in PressReader. April 26, 2017.
  • Featured in an article in The Washington Post. March 26, 2017.
  • Interviewed in an article in Time. March 26, 2017.
  • Interviewed on RT News. January 16, 2017.
  • Interviewed at The Real News Network. December 7, 2016.
  • Participated in a discussion in Asia Society. December 5, 2016.
  • Featured in an article in Trend. October 20, 2016.
  • Participated in Sino-US Colloquium (X) US-China Policy for the Next Administration. September 26, 2016.
  • Interviewed in an article in ChinaFile. July  20, 2016.
  • The China Boom: Why China Will Not Rule the World featured in a blog in Asia Society. March 16, 2016
  • Interviewed in World Policy Blog. January 29, 2016.
  • The China Boom: Why China Will Not Rule the World featured in an article in Forbes Magazine. January 27, 2016.
  • The China Boom: Why China Will Not Rule the World featured in an article in Forbes Magazine. January 27, 2016.
  • The China Boom: Why China Will Not Rule the World featured in an article in Forbes Magazine. January 2, 2016
  • Interviewed in an article in The Real News on January 11, 2016.
  • Cited in Columbia University Press blog on December 1, 2015.
  • Cited in an article in Quartz on November 30, 2015.
  • Participated in Foreign Policy Magazine forum on November 8, 2015.
  • Cited in an article in The Wall Street Journal on November 3, 2015
  • Robert Daly interviews Dr. Ho-fung Hung on his takeaways from the event co-sponsored by the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute and Kissinger Institute on China and the U.S. session on July 30, 2015
  • Participated in a panel at an event co-sponsored by the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute and Kissinger Institute on China and the U.S on July 23, 2015
  • Participated in a panel at American Symposium of the World Forum on China Studies on May 6 & 7, 2015
  • Participated in a panel in NYC on Hong Kong protest on Oct 28,2014
  • Interviewed and cited in an article at New York Times on democratization and colonial history of Hong Kong on Oct 27, 2014
  • Cited in an article on the same topic at Financial Times on Oct 12 , 2014 
  • Appeared on Inside Story show at Al Jazeera America
  • In Voice of America (Link is in Chinese) – Voice of America
  • Publication cited in France’s Le Monde Les Editions de Minuit
  • Quoted in Bloomberg  Hong Kong Students Lead Democracy Fight With Class Boycotts
  • Quoted in the Quartz  What is the meaning of the umbrellas in Hong Kong’s “Umbrella Revolution”?
  • Quoted in the Guardian Hong Kong: more join protests as crowds are urged to keep going
  • Cited in the January 22, 2014 Associated Press Beijing report titled, “Report Links Chinese Elite to Offshore Tax Havens”
  • Interviewed live on WABC’s John Batchelor Show. View the youtube segment.
  • Interviewed on LA based station KPFK on the “Beneath the Surface” program about China’s debt crisis on Friday, April 19.  Ho-fung’s portion of the interview begins at 43:00.
  • Cited in New York Times Exclusive: Princeling-Backed Firm Eyes $500 Million China Buyout Fund-Sources by Reuters
  • Cited in Bloomberg Businessweek “China Shuffles Military Leaders Ahead of Wider Party Transition”, October 24, 2012