Ziying Xu

Ziying is an MA student in the MIRS program (Chinese Studies specialization) at the University of Michigan. Her research interests focus on grassroots technological practices, human–technology relations, and informal markets in contemporary China. More specifically, she is currently conducting an ethnographic project on Shenzhen’s informal secondhand phone market, with particular attention to commodity circulation and the relationship between repair and innovation. Economic anthropology and feminist STS (Science and Technology Studies) are the fields she is seeking to bring into dialogue. She also has a longstanding interest in the sensory concept of renao 热闹 (heat and noise; hustle and bustle) and the technological notion of shanzhai 山寨 (copycat, bandit, fake). In her free time, she enjoys exploring different kinds of spicy foods.