معرفی
Zhifan Luo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at McMaster University. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the State University of New York at Albany. Her research examines the interplay between digital technologies, political power, and civil society, with a dual focus on authoritarian adaptations to digitalization and democratic transformations of civic engagement.
Dr. Luo's current projects include: (1) Analysis of Weibo discourse (2009-2019) on domestic violence, studying narrative contests between state actors, media, activists, and the public; and (2) Examination of Twitter data (2006-2022) about censorship, investigating how the term is weaponized in democratic public spheres. She employs computational methods and discourse analysis across these projects.
Her scholarly publications predominantly explore themes of digital governance, censorship mechanisms, and societal power dynamics, with frequent regional emphasis on China. Recent work (2020-2025) demonstrates methodological diversity—combining computational linguistics, frame analysis, and case studies—while maintaining consistent focus on social media's role in political discourse and authoritarian resilience.
