Professor Shih-Diing Liu, from the Department of Communication in the Faculty of Social Science, is set to publish his work “Affective Spaces: The Cultural Politics of Emotion in China” with Edinburgh University Press in February 2024. The book explains why and how emotions create new ways of understanding contemporary cultural politics. It serves as a starting point for rethinking the dynamics and tensions in East Asia and beyond. The publication is sponsored by the Excellence Publication Scheme (EPS) of the IAS.
Affective Spaces: The Cultural Politics of Emotion in China
Through a close analysis of public cultures, the book presents informed explanations based on vivid portraits of various emotional spectacles, scenes, encounters, and practices. It explains why the notion of affective space holds promise for innovative research beyond China, enabling a nuanced exploration of topics such as the desire for nationalism, regional and international conflicts, and state-society relations.
Professor Liu delivered book talks at the East Asia Program at Johns Hopkins University and the Center for the Study of Contemporary China, University of Pennsylvania, in December 2023. The IAS is scheduled to organize a book event on the related topic in March.
Apart from this book, Professor Liu He is the author of The Politics of People (State University of New York Press, 2019). His research has appeared in Positions: Asia Critique, Social Movement Studies, New Media and Society, and New Left Review.
Professor Liu was the awardee of the 2023 Excellence Publication Scheme Award. The EPS aims to encourage UM academic staff to excel in research and publish their specialized research findings on world-class publishing platforms. Funding will be given to successful candidates to appoint substitute teachers to reduce their teaching workloads, cover some of their publishing costs, or pay for their or their postgraduate students’ attendance at international academic conferences.