Tian Ma

Dr. Tian Ma is a Senior Lecturer at De Montfort University's School of Applied Social Sciences within the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. Her academic leadership includes serving as module leader for Communities of Justice and pioneering the COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) initiative on Punishment and Society with California State University, Chico.

• PhD in Cultural and Global Criminology (University of Kent & Utrecht University)
• Diploma in Public Service Interpreting (English Law)
• MA in Criminology
• BA in Law

Dr. Ma's research bridges migration studies and criminology through critical frameworks like crimmigration, border criminology, and decolonizing knowledge. Her award-winning monograph Contesting Crimmigration in Post-Hukou China (2023, Asian Criminological Society Distinguished Book Prize) examines systemic discrimination against migrant populations in China's legal system. Current projects analyze surveillance practices, modern slavery survivor advocacy, and indigenous knowledge production challenging Eurocentric criminological paradigms.

Her publications span topics including: re-bordering processes, mass arrest dynamics, and transnational sex trafficking networks. Methodologically, she combines qualitative fieldwork with critical policy analysis, emphasizing intersectional approaches to migration and security.

• Scientific Awards:
  • Asian Criminological Society Distinguished Book Prize (2023)
  • Erasmus Mundus Doctoral Scholarship (2014)

Dr. Ma actively supervises PhD students and contributes to public discourse through media engagements with outlets like The Guardian, Sky News, and Euronews. Her decolonizing initiatives extend beyond DMU to broader UK academic institutions, aiming to reshape global criminological frameworks.