X. (Xinyue) Wu
Project 1: Institutional-Psychological Mechanisms among Highly Skilled Chinese Migrants
Role: Principal Investigator (PhD Dissertation Project)
Period: 2022–2026
Affiliation: University of Groningen, Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences
Supervisors: Prof. Rafael Wittek, Prof. Basak Bilecen
Description:
This four-paper dissertation project investigates how authoritarian socialisation and political legacies create enduring institutional-psychological mechanisms among highly skilled Chinese migrants in Germany. Drawing on in-depth interviews and employing reflexive thematic analysis, the research examines how these mechanisms manifest in four key dimensions: atomised community, political disaffection, media attitudes, and nationalism.
The project develops a multi-mechanism institutional-psychological framework that bridges sociology, political philosophy, and psychology, revealing how deeply embedded value and emotional patterns persist across migration contexts and re-emerge in democratic societies. This research contributes to understanding how institutional experiences shape human behaviours and attitudes beyond transnational migration, with implications for debates on authoritarianism, political polarisation, and social integration.
Status: Two manuscripts submitted to top-tier journals (Migration Studies, Current Sociology); two additional papers in preparation
Methods: Qualitative research design, in-depth interviews, reflexive thematic analysis
Project 2: Food, Sensory Experiences, and Emotions in Transnational Migration
Role: Principal Investigator (PhD Dissertation Project)
Period: 2017–2021
Affiliation: Nankai University, Zhou Enlai School of Government
Supervisor: Prof. Tongkai Yuan
Visiting Period: University of Sydney (2019–2020), supervised by Prof. Elspeth Probyn
Description:
This ethnographic project explored how food practices, sensory experiences, and emotions sustain cultural continuity and agency among first-generation Chinese migrant women across generations. Based on over one year of transnational fieldwork in China and Australia, the research employed feminist phenomenology to examine how migrant women's embodied experiences and affective memories connect their past and present, maintaining cultural identity while adapting to new contexts.
The project revealed how food becomes a medium through which migrants negotiate belonging, transmit cultural knowledge across generations, and exercise agency in constructing transnational identities. This work contributes to sensory anthropology, migration studies, and the anthropology of food and emotions.
Outcomes: Completed PhD dissertation (nominated for Best Dissertation), conference presentation at SYSU International Conference on Food and Culture (2018)
Methods: Multi-sited ethnography, participant observation, in-depth interviews, feminist phenomenology
Project 3: Research on Chinese National Culture and National Identity
Role: Co-Investigator
Period: 2018–2020
Funding: Ministry of Education Major Social Science Research Project, China (No. 17JZD043)
Principal Investigator: Prof. Tongkai Yuan
Description:
This funded research project examined the formation and evolution of Chinese national culture and national identity in contemporary society. As co-investigator, I contributed to the theoretical framework development and empirical research design, with particular focus on how cultural practices and collective memories shape national identity among diverse populations.