Shuk Ying Chan

Dr. Shuk Ying Chan is a Lecturer in Political Theory at the Department of Political Science, University College London, affiliated with the School of Public Policy. Prior to UCL, she served as a Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellow at Nuffield College and the Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford University. Her academic journey includes a PhD in political theory from Princeton University, where she was a Graduate Prize Fellow at the University Centre for Human Values (2018–2019) and a Graduate Fellow at the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (2019–2020). She holds an MPhil in Political Theory and a BA in History and Politics from the University of Hong Kong.

Dr. Chan’s research bridges 20th-century anticolonial thought and contemporary debates on global justice. Her book project, Postcolonial Global Justice (under contract with Princeton University Press), examines decolonization as an unfinished project of global justice, drawing on anticolonial thinkers to develop principles for addressing self-determination and equality in global governance, international investment, and cultural exchange. Her work also critiques neocolonial dynamics in trade, health equity, and economic regimes.

Her recent publications (2019–2025) span topics such as vaccine distribution ethics, postcolonial critiques of international investment, and decolonial struggles in Hong Kong. These articles emphasize global justice frameworks informed by historical anticolonial movements, with a focus on equity, corporate responsibility, and the moral implications of empire legacies.

• 2022 Leo Strauss Award for best dissertation in political philosophy (American Political Science Association)

She teaches courses on Global Justice (POLS0100), Historical Injustice and the Politics of Decolonization (POLS103), and co-teaches Global Ethics (PUBL0045). Her academic trajectory reflects a commitment to integrating historical anticolonial insights with actionable strategies for global equality and self-determination.