Structural Inequality in China's Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is reshaping China’s development. structural inequality emerges during this process. This article develops an Intersectional Institutional Analysis Model that conceptualizes digital inequality as the results of interaction between Structural Institutional Exclusion (such as hukou and regional disparities) and Individual Resources and Agency (such as education, income, and digital skills). The analysis of cases in China representing different interactions shows how digital technologies can function in scenarios of high/low institutional exclusion and high/low agency.

Sicheng Wei is a PhD candidate at the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a visiting student at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester. Her research focuses on the intersection of digital technologies, institutional change, and social development in contemporary China.

MCI’s PGR workshops are lunchtime seminars held in person at the Manchester China Institute. They seek to bring together students, faculty and staff who can best provide feedback as postgraduate researchers develop their ideas. Free lunch will be provided.

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