Christopher Heurlin

Christopher Heurlin is an Associate Professor in the Government and Legal Studies department at Bowdoin College, with a dual affiliation in Asian Studies. His research focuses on comparative politics, particularly authoritarianism, protests, and institutional trust in China and other communist regimes.

• Specializations: Chinese politics, protest movements, NGO governance, political economy of land dispossession

His book Responsive Authoritarianism in China (Cambridge University Press, 2016) explores how protests influence policymaking in China. Current research compares the collapse and resilience of communist regimes across Asia, including China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Mongolia. He also investigates socioeconomic consequences of land loss, such as unemployment among rural populations.

Publications emphasize land disputes, institutional trust, and NGO-state relations under authoritarian systems. Key themes include authoritarian adaptation, protest dynamics, and state-civil society interactions.

Heurlin earned his PhD and MA from the University of Washington and a BA from Carleton College. He teaches courses on dictatorship politics, protest movements, and Chinese political systems.