Ruishi Zhen

photo

 ruishi.zhen@unifr.ch
 https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5731-4894

Biografie

I am a doctoral researcher at the Unit of Social Anthropology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. My dissertation research is part of the SNSF research project ‘Digital agriculture: Sino-European contrasts, correspondences and collaborations’ led by Dr. Lena Kaufmann. My dissertation research examines small-scale agricultural producers’ transition to alternative food practices in rural China from a socio-technical perspective. My research focuses on the motivations and experiences of smallholder farmers and the social and cultural processes that enable them to make the transition to become alternative agricultural producers. Conceptually, my research draws on the anthropology of technology and skill and adopts a socio-technical approach to shed light on the specific social and technical resources and embodied skilled practices that agricultural producers utilise and perform in processes where they shift from the productivist agricultural system to producer-driven alternative food networks (AFNs). 

 

Before coming to Fribourg, I completed an MA in Asian Studies at the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies at Lund University. I also hold an MSc in Research for International Development from SOAS, University of London. My broader research interest concerns China’s agricultural development and alternative agri-food systems. 

Forschung und Publikationen