CEFC

Seminar: “Towards a New Urban Regime? Reconfiguring Urban China through Internal Migration”

Over the past decade, China's urban development model has entered a period of profound restructuring, marked by shifting relations between land urbanization, demographic incorporation, and territorial governance. In this evolving context, differentiated categories of internal migrants are increasingly positioned at the center of local development strategies.

Focusing more specifically on new guaranteed and subsidized housing projects in the cities of Zhuhai and Shenzhen, this presentation examines how processes of residential stabilization, social differentiation, and selective incorporation of migrant populations are reshaping urban production, public policy instruments, and metropolitan spatial configurations. More broadly, the seminar reflects on the evolving relationships between mobility, urbanization, and governance in contemporary Chinese cities.

Speaker: Cinzia Losavio, PhD in Geography and Urban Planning from Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (2022). Postdoctoral researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) as part of the China CoREF project (CNRS | Inalco).

This event is co-organized with the Department of Geography and Resource Management of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

🔗 Registration and details: https://www.cefc.com.hk/event/towards-a-new-urban-regime-reconfiguring-urban-china-through-internal-migration/

📅 25 June 2026
⏰ 4:30pm–6:00pm
📍 The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Room 233, Wong Foo Yuan Building

📖 🎤 Presentation of the latest issue of China Perspectives: “Rematerialising Memories: Alternative Pathways to Public Knowledge of the Past in China”

The French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC) and Parenthèses Bookstore are pleased to coorganise a presentation of the latest issue of China Perspectives, in the presence of Zhang Lisheng, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Peking University.

Issue 144 of China Perspectives, titled “Rematerialising Memories: Alternative Pathways to Public Knowledge of the Past in China,” explores the complexity of relationships to the past in China, beyond official memory.

The discussion will be moderated by Zhang Lisheng, one of the guest editors of the special issue, and Camille Salgues. Together, they will reflect on the origins of this issue, the place of private memory in relation to official memory in China today, and why memory is as much a question of materiality as it is of discourse.

The event will be held in English.

🔗 RSVP: [email protected]

📅 12 June 2026 (Friday)
⏰ 6pm-7pm
📍 Librairie Parenthèses, 2/F, Duke of Wellington House, 14-24 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong

https://www.cefc.com.hk/event/presentation-of-china-perspectives-issue-144-rematerialising-memories-alternative-pathways-to-public-knowledge-of-the-past-in-china/



Parentheses Librairie Française

Présentation de l’ouvrage Une après-midi à Shanghai : L’enfance et la question anthropologique de l’âge

Camille Salgues, chercheur au Centre d’études français sur la Chine contemporaine (CEFC) présentera son livre Une après-midi à Shanghai : L’enfance et la question anthropologique de l’âge à la Librairie Parenthèses (Parentheses Librairie Française) le 1er juin 2026 à 18 heures.

Fruit d’un travail de terrain de trois ans auprès des enfants de migrants internes à Shanghai, cet ouvrage présente une étude riche et sensible sur la vie d’enfants défavorisés dans les grandes villes chinoises, articulée à une réflexion nouvelle sur la question de l’âge en sciences sociales. Il constitue l’une des premières enquêtes ethnographiques de ce type sur des enfants, mêlant sociologie, anthropologie et géographie.

🔗 RSVP : [email protected]

📅 1er Juin 2026
⏰ 18h00-19h00
📍 Librairie Parenthèses, 2/F, Duke of Wellington House, 14-24 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong

https://www.cefc.com.hk/fr/event/presentation-douvrage-par-camille-salgues-une-apres-midi-a-shanghai-lenfance-et-la-question-anthropologique-de-lage/

Seminar: “The Moral Economy of Contemporary Social Sciences and Humanities,” followed by a collective discussion on the future of our disciplines in the age of AI

The way we produce academic knowledge today is shaped by historically situated moral commitments and by collective responses to global coordination challenges. Implicit norms structure knowledge production: to point this out is not to critique science, but rather to reveal its contingencies and to explore alternative possibilities for what science could be.

This presentation draws on Lorraine Daston’s concept of the “moral economy of science”, developed in her classic work on the history of biology and physics. It is based on nine months of participant observation as Chief Editor of China Perspectives. The journal’s position within English-language scholarship on China – with its specific epistemological tensions, editorial practices, geopolitical stakes, and the new challenges raised by AI – provides rich material for investigating how contemporary moral economies operate in practice.

The presentation will be followed by a collective discussion on the future of our disciplines in the age of AI.

Speakers:
Camille SALGUES: Researcher at the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC). Chief Editor of China Perspectives
Moderator: Stuart GIETEL-BASTEN, Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)

🔗 Registration and details: https://www.cefc.com.hk/event/the-moral-economy-of-contemporary-social-sciences-and-humanities/

📅 27 May 2026
⏰ 10:30am–12:00pm
📍 Room 5566 (Lifts 27-28), 5/F, Academic Building, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong

Discover our new video: a conversation on the latest special feature of China Perspectives, “Rematerialising Memories: Alternative Pathways to Public Knowledge of the Past in China.”

In this discussion, guest editors Zhang Lisheng and Luo Pan join Camille Salgues, Chief Editor of China Perspectives, to explore how historical memory is produced in contemporary China through material practices rather than discourse alone.

The special feature highlights a wide range of approaches – from archaeology and museography to fan communities – and examines memories connected to different periods, including classical China, the Mao era, and the transformations of the 1980s and 1990s.

🎥 Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_63nsuHfAI

China Perspectives Special Feature (Issue 144): Rematerialising Memories Guest edited by Zhang Lisheng and Luo Pan, this special feature explores alternative forms of historical memory production in contemporary China, focusing on...

📢 Reminder - Perspectives on Chinese Development and Planning: A Dialogue Between Two Human Geographers

Don’t miss the next event of the CEFC!

🗣️ Speakers:
David Juilien
Jiang Xu

📅 Date: 8 May 2026 (Friday)

⏰ Time: 2:00–4:00 PM

📍 Venue: Room 5508 (Lifts 25-26), 5/F, Academic Building, HKUST, Clear Water Bay

🔗 Register now: https://www.cefc.com.hk/event/perspectives-on-chinese-development-and-planning-a-dialogue-between-two-human-geographers/

🎤 Perspectives on Chinese Development and Planning: A Dialogue Between Two Human Geographers

As global governance, geopolitical instability, and environmental crises reshape societies, the role of spatial planning is undergoing a profound revival. But planning is not solely technical. For instance, French Dominique Faure’s 2025 report to the government on spatial planning insists that planning must bring about a “positive vision of the ‘France territory’ for 2030 and 2050”. Similarly, China’s planning has been used as a strategic tool to sustain its growth. From “new socialist countryside” to “building a beautiful homeland”, China’s growth, planning, and spatial governance are framed in broadly defined society projects.

This roundtable brings together two leading experts to explore how China’s approach to spatial planning is shaping its development trajectory. David Juilien, whose research centres on spatial planning, territorial dynamics, and rural transformations in China, will present a case study on rural restructuring in Yunnan. He will be joined in the discussion by Jiang Xu, a specialist in urban planning and regional development at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).

📅 8 May 2026

⏰ 14:00–16:00

📍 Room 5508 (Lifts 25-26), 5/F, Academic Building, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong

🔗 Registration: https://www.cefc.com.hk/event/perspectives-on-chinese-development-and-planning-a-dialogue-between-two-human-geographers/

🎤 Perspectives on Chinese Development and Planning: A Dialogue Between Two Human Geographers

As global governance, geopolitical instability, and environmental crises reshape societies, the role of spatial planning is undergoing a profound revival. But planning is not solely technical. For instance, French Dominique Faure’s 2025 report to the government on spatial planning insists that planning must bring about a “positive vision of the ‘France territory’ for 2030 and 2050”. Similarly, China’s planning has been used as a strategic tool to sustain its growth. From “new socialist countryside” to “building a beautiful homeland”, China’s growth, planning, and spatial governance are framed in broadly defined society projects.

This roundtable brings together two leading experts to explore how China’s approach to spatial planning is shaping its development trajectory. David Juilien, whose research centres on spatial planning, territorial dynamics, and rural transformations in China, will present a case study on rural restructuring in Yunnan. He will be joined in the discussion by Jiang Xu, a specialist in urban planning and regional development at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).

📅 8 May 2026

⏰ 14:00–16:00

📍 Room 5508 (Lifts 25-26), 5/F, Academic Building, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong

🔗 Registration: https://www.cefc.com.hk/event/perspectives-on-chinese-development-and-planning-a-dialogue-between-two-human-geographers/

The issue 140 of China Perspectives, titled “Movement, Mobility, and Mediation in a Bipolar World: Hong Kong during the 1950s–1970s,” published in March 2025, is now available for free to everyone.

This special feature on Hong Kong during the Cold War, guest edited by Heidi Yu Huang and Tze-Ki Hon, highlights the remarkable changes that took place in Cold War Hong Kong – from an entrepot for China trade to what Sir Alexander Graham called “the Berlin of the East.”

As a British colony sharing borders with Communist China, Hong Kong was a liminal space in a bipolar world, at the heart of Cold War issues. Drawing on the film character Wong Fei-hung as an icon of modernity; neon signs as symbols of Hong Kong transforming into a place of cultural hybridity; and Star House as a place of self-Orientalism, this special feature reflects the complexity of Cold War Hong Kong as a hub of transnational commerce and transcultural mixing.

📖 Read this issue: https://www.cefc.com.hk/issue/china-perspectives-140/

Ne manquez pas notre table ronde ce jeudi (16 avril 2026 à 18h30): "Enseigner le français aujourd’hui dans les mondes chinois : Pratiques et institutions en recomposition à l’ère de l’IA"

📅 16 avril 2026

⏰ 18h30–20h00

📍 Alliance française de Hong Kong, Centre de Jordan. G/F-3/F, 52 Jordan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong

🔗 Inscriptions : https://www.afhongkong.org/event-rsvp/transformations-de-lenseignement-du-francais-en-chine-et-a-hk/

Alliance Française de Hong Kong Consulat Général de France à Hong Kong et Macao

Table ronde – Enseigner le français aujourd’hui dans les mondes chinois : Pratiques et institutions en recomposition à l’ère de l’IA

Dans le cadre de la série d’évènements “Les Sciences humaines et sociales à l’épreuve de l’IA”, le CEFC coorganise une table ronde avec l’Alliance Française de Hong Kong et le Consulat Général de France à Hong Kong et Macao sur l’enseignement du français aujourd’hui dans les mondes chinois en présence de trois professeurs de français langue étrangère en Chine continentale et à Hong Kong afin de partager leurs expériences et réfléchir aux évolutions en cours.

Intervenants: Sylvain Holtermann, Wenling Liu et David Bel. Modération : Camille Salgues (CEFC).

📅 16 avril 2026

⏰ 18h30–20h00

📍 Alliance française de Hong Kong, Centre de Jordan. G/F-3/F, 52 Jordan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong

🔗 Inscriptions: https://www.afhongkong.org/event-rsvp/transformations-de-lenseignement-du-francais-en-chine-et-a-hk/

🔗 Plus d’informations: https://www.cefc.com.hk/fr/event/enseigner-francais-mondes-chinois-aujourdhui/

📣 The latest issue of China Perspectives “Rematerialising Memories: Alternative Pathways to Public Knowledge of the Past in China” has just been published!

Guest edited by Zhang Lisheng and Luo Pan, this special feature explores alternative forms of historical memory production in contemporary China, focusing on materiality rather than discourse. The articles span a range of practices: archaeology, museography, or fan communities, while addressing memories from different epochs : classical China, Mao era, as well as the 80s and 90s.

🔑 Apart from the special feature, the issue 143 also includes:
➡ An editorial (in open-access)
➡ 2 other articles focusing on Medical corruption in China’s public hospital (by Fen Dai and Woojong Moon) and on rural migrants in the informal economy of urbanising China (by Liang Chen).
➡ 5 book reviews (in open-access)

👉 The issue and table of contents are available on our website: https://www.cefc.com.hk/issue/china-perspectives-144/

And on many platforms such as OpenEdition, EBSCO and JSTOR.
OpenEdition: https://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/