School of Social and Political Science

Sophia Woodman

Senior lecturer

Sophia Woodman
Sophia.Woodman@ed.ac.uk
+44 (0)131 651 4745
3.09
18 Buccleuch Place
Edinburgh
UK
EH8 8LN

Research interests

Citizenship, human rights and social movements; contemporary China; law and society; regional autonomy frameworks; migration and translocality.

My research focuses on citizenship, human rights and social movements in contemporary China; political sociology and social movements, particularly transnational movements; migration and translocality, including for mobility for education; local citizenship and the politics of sustainability; constitutionalism, law, politics and governance in modern China and beyond; gender and the state; asymmetry and formal autonomy in state systems.

Topics interested in supervising

I am interested in supervising students doing research on topics in political sociology, including citizenship, human rights and social movements, particularly those that have ecological or gender angles, or seek to analyze welfare regimes. I welcome projects using innovative methodologies, such as action research. I'm especially open to projects that have transnational engagements and/or relate to China or other parts of Asia.

If you are interested in being supervised by Sophia Woodman, please see the links below for more information:

Background

Selected publications

  • Sophia Woodman. 2018. All citizenship is local: using China to rethink local citizenship. In Place and Citizenship: Case Studies on the Borders of Citizenship, edited by Cherstin M. Lyon and Alison F. Goebel. Rowman and Littlefield.
  • Sophia Woodman. 2018. The cultural politics of women’s human rights in transnational China: from the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women to now. In Gender Dynamics, Feminist Activism and Social Transformation in China, edited by Guoguang Wu, Yuan Feng and Helen Lansdowne. Basingstoke: Routledge.
  • Sophia Woodman and Guo, Zhonghua. 2018. Practicing Citizenship in Contemporary China. London: Routledge.
  • Sophia Woodman and Guo, Zhonghua. 2017. Introduction: practicing citizenship in contemporary China. Citizenship Studies, 21, 7: 737-754.
  • Sophia Woodman. 2017. Legitimating exclusion and inclusion: ‘culture’, education and entitlement to local urban citizenship in Tianjin and Lanzhou. Citizenship Studies, 21, 7: 755-772.
  • Sophia Woodman and Charles R. Menzies. 2017. Justice for the salmon: indigenous ways of life as a critical resource in envisioning alternative futures. In (Post)colonialism, Indigeneity and Struggles for Food Sovereignty edited by Marisa Wilson. Basingstoke: Routledge.
  • Sophia Woodman. 2016. Local Politics, Local Citizenship? Socialized Governance in Contemporary China. The China Quarterly, 226: 342-362.
  • Sophia Woodman. 2015. Segmented Publics and the Regulation of Critical Speech in China. Asian Studies Review 39, 1: 100-118.
  • Yash Ghai and Sophia Woodman. 2013. Practising Self-government: A Comparative Study of Autonomous Regions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. www.cambridge.org/9781107018587
  • Pitman Potter and Sophia Woodman. 2012. Boundaries of tolerance: Charter 08 and debates over political reform. In Liu Xiaobo, Charter ’08 and the Challenges of Political Reform in China, edited by Jean-Philippe Béja, Hualing Fu and Eva Pils. Hong Kong University Press.
  • Sophia Woodman. 2011. Law, translation and voice: the transformation of a struggle for social justice in a Chinese village. Critical Asian Studies 43, 2: 185-210.
  • Yash Ghai, Sophia Woodman and Kelley Loper. 2010. Is there space for “genuine autonomy” for Tibetan areas in the PRC’s system of Nationalities Regional Autonomy? International Journal of Minority and Group Rights, Vol. 17: 137-186.
  • Yash Ghai and Sophia Woodman. 2009. Unused powers: autonomy legislation in the PRC. Pacific Affairs 82, 1: 29-46.

Works within

Fridays, 10:30am-12:30pm

Publications by user content

Publication Research Explorer link
Woodman S, Pringle T. Differentiating risks to academic freedom in the globalised university in China. Philosophy and Social Criticism. 2022 May 1;48(4):642–651. Epub 2022 Apr 5. doi: 10.1177/01914537221092176
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Woodman S. The dynamics of localized citizenship at the grassroots in China. Citizenship Studies. 2022;26(4-5):712-717. Epub 2022 Jul 7. doi: 10.1080/13621025.2022.2091255
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Heathershaw J, Chalcraft J, Chubb A, Fulda A, Hughes C, Kaczmarska K et al. Model code of conduct: Protection of academic freedom and the academic community in the context of the internationalisation of the UK HE sector. International Journal of Human Rights. 2022;26(10):1858-1865. Epub 2022 Nov 25. doi: 10.1080/13642987.2022.2148977
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Zaunseder A, Woodman S, Emejulu A. Introducing radical democratic citizenship: From practice to theory. Identities. 2021 Dec 15. Epub 2021 Dec 15. doi: 10.1080/1070289X.2021.2013670
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Woodman S, Zaunseder A. Exploring ‘festive commoning’ in radical gatherings in Scotland. Identities. 2021 Oct 10. Epub 2021 Oct 10. doi: 10.1080/1070289X.2021.1990570
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Woodman S, Guo Z. Introduction: Practicing citizenship in contemporary China. Citizenship Studies. 2017 Oct 3;21(7):737-754. Epub 2017 Jul 20. doi: 10.1080/13621025.2017.1353740
 View
Woodman S. Legitimating exclusion and inclusion: ‘Culture’, education and entitlement to local urban citizenship in Tianjin and Lanzhou. Citizenship Studies. 2017 Oct;21(7):755-772. Epub 2017 Jul 26. doi: 10.1080/13621025.2017.1353739
 View
Woodman S, Menzies CR. Justice for the salmon: Indigenous ways of life as a critical resource in envisioning alternative futures. In Wilson M, editor, Postcolonialism, Indigeneity and Struggles for Food Sovereignty: Alternative food networks in subaltern spaces. Taylor & Francis. 2016. p. 57-80 doi: 10.4324/9781315686769
 View
Woodman S. Local politics, local citizenship? Socialized governance in contemporary China. The China Quarterly. 2016 Jun;226:342-362. Epub 2016 Apr 8. doi: 10.1017/S0305741016000345
 View
Woodman S. Segmented publics and the regulation of critical speech in China. Asian Studies Review. 2015 Mar;39(1):100-118. Epub 2014 Dec 18. doi: 10.1080/10357823.2014.991271
 View
Woodman S, Ghai Y. Comparative Perspectives on Institutional Frameworks for Autonomy. In Ghai Y, Woodman S, editors, Practising Self-Government: A Comparative Study of Autonomous Regions. Cambridge University Press. 2013. p. 449-486. (Law in Context).
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Potter PB, Woodman S. Boundaries of tolerance: Charter 08 and debates over political reform. In Béja JP, Hualing F, Pils E, editors, Liu Xiaobo, Charter 08 and the Challenges of Political Reform in China. Hong Kong University Press, HKU. 2012. p. 97-117
 View
Woodman S. Law, Translation, and Voice: Transformation of a Struggle for Social Justice in a Chinese Village. Critical Asian Studies. 2011;43(2):185-210. doi: 10.1080/14672715.2011.570566
 View
Ghai Y, Woodman S, Loper K. Is there Space for "Genuine Autonomy" for Tibetan Areas in the PRC's System of Nationalities Regional Autonomy? International Journal on Minority and Group Rights. 2010;17(1):137-186. doi: 10.1163/157181110X12595859744286
 View
Ghai Y, Woodman S. Unused Powers: Contestation over Autonomy Legislation in the PRC. Pacific Affairs. 2009;82(1):29-46. doi: 10.5509/200982129
 View
Woodman S. Legislative interpretation by China’s national people’s congress standing committee: A power with roots in the Stalinist conception of law. In Harris L, editor, Interpreting Hong Kong's Basic Law: The Struggle for Coherence. Palgrave Macmillan. 2007. p. 229-241 doi: 10.1057/9780230610361_11
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