Biography
Yadong Li is a PhD candidate in socio-cultural anthropology. With a regional focus on northwestern China, he studies how ruins of progress materialize and are experienced in everyday lives, and how life persists amidst ruins and the sense of unfinishedness. His research interests lie at the intersection of ecological anthropology, critical infrastructure studies, hope studies, and the anthropology of development. He has also written about urban legends, moral panic, and UFO enthusiasts in China. In spare time, he is the host of the Anthropology channel of the New Books Network. Before attending Tulane, he earned an MRes from SOAS University of London and an MSc from the University of Edinburgh, both in social anthropology.
The NBN interviews hosted by Yadong can be found via this link: https://newbooksnetwork.com/hosts/profile/ff82f647-7151-4dcd-8f98-218155ffe637
Publications
“Jovanovic, Deana. 2024. Staging the Promises: Everyday Future-Making in a Serbian Industrial Town. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 246 pp. Hb.: $20,99, ISBN: 9781501780134.” Social Anthropology / Anthropologie Sociale, 2025, 3(3): 87. https://www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/saas/33/3/saas330307.xml
“Talking about UFOs, Talking about Hope: Understanding Temporality and Narrative Hope in Chinese UFO Talks.” Narrative Culture 11, no. 2 (2024): 222-241. https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/27/article/941978/pdf