Sara FriedmanView profile
Professor
Sara Friedman is a Professor of Anthropology and Gender Studies at Indiana University Bloomington, affiliated with the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. She holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Cornell University (2000), an M.A. from Cornell, and a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Yale. As Director of Graduate Studies in Anthropology, she oversees academic and research initiatives within the department. Her research examines intersections between intimate life and political/legal domains in China and Taiwan, focusing on state power, migration, gender, and non-heteronormative families. Current projects include comparative studies of LGBT family formation in Taiwan/China and middle-class Chinese families rejecting urban lifestyles for rural alternatives. These projects address legal reforms, kinship transformations, and evolving ideals of the 'good life.' Recent work includes publications on LGBT reproductive rights, cross-border migration sovereignty debates, and legal recognition struggles. Her books include *Exceptional States: Chinese Immigrants and Taiwanese Sovereignty* (2015) and *Intimate Politics: Marriage, the Market, and State Power in Southeastern China* (2006). Awards include a Fulbright Fellowship and a Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation Grant. Her research bridges gender/sexuality studies, legal anthropology, and East Asian studies, emphasizing ethnographic engagement with marginalized communities. Current projects explore how state policies shape family structures and how non-traditional families navigate bureaucratic and social challenges in rapidly changing sociopolitical contexts.











