Joy Zhang

Dr. Joy Yueyue Zhang  张悦悦,  MBBS, MSc, PhD

Professor of Sociology, University of Kent
Founding Director, Centre for Global Science and Epistemic Justice, University of Kent
Editorial Boards, Sociology ;  Environmental Politics and Economy and Society 
Visiting Fellow, Global Biopolitics Research Centre, Kings College London
External Examiner, University of Sheffield (BA Sociology with Social Policy; BA Sociology with Criminology)
Member, Public Engagement Task Force, International Society for Stem Cell Research
Member, Climate Impacts Advisory Committee, Wellcome Trust

Mastodon: @DrJoyZhang@sciences.social
Twitter: @DrJoyZhang

I’m a Chinese-born British sociologist with a first degree in medicine. My research focuses on the erosion of epistemic boundaries and the rise of cosmopolitan identities formed by changing disciplinary, geopolitical and state-society power relations. I have expertise in expanding the transnational governance of risk beyond a Western-centric approach and in aligning theoretical frameworks with real-world challenges. Conceptually, my work contributes to sociological theories of risk, cosmopolitanism, decolonisation and subaltern politics. I’ve undertaken empirical studies on emerging life sciences, food movements and environmental politics. I have an outstanding track record of consistently delivering high quality, high impact research.

Before joining Kent, I worked at l’École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where I also obtained my PhD in Sociology in 2010 and MSc in 2006. For both of my MSc and PhD degrees, I studied under the supervision of Sarah Franklin. My PhD was examined by Ulrich Beck and Christoph Rehmann-Sutter. Previous to that, I was graduated from Peking University Health Science Centre, majoring in clinical medicine.

I’ve always tried to have a flavour of different lives when I can. Before coming to the UK, I travelled to more than 20 countries with my parents and we lived in California for two years in the early 1990s. These are immensely valuable experiences. I once worked as a journalist and a columnist. I was China’s first student journalist to report on the Olympic Games (Sydney 2000). I obtained Accounting qualification issued by China’s Ministry of Finance while carrying on with my medical training. But most importantly, I’m keen on exploring artistic tools in exploring sociological questions. To date, I have had three solo photographic exhibitions (two of which were sponsored by Canon (China). I love being a sociologist, but if you ask me what my ‘dream job’ is, it’s being an art restorer.

I’ve obtained research grants from the British Academy, the British Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the Independent Social Research Foundation in the UK, the National Science Foundation and the Department of State in the US, as well as la Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’homme in France. 

张悦悦，社会学准教授（Reader），2005年自动放弃临床医学系硕士阶段学习，并放弃剑桥大学的硕士录取，赴伦敦政治经济学院攻读社会学。其学术专长为1）风险社会，2）新兴科技风险国际协作治理，3）世界主义社会学理论, 4) 底层与后殖民政治。其研究曾为中国卫生部，科技部以及英国皇家学会科技政策的拟订所采纳。

其学术成果在自然科学和社会科学顶级国际期刊均有发表。其第一部学术专著《The Cosmopolitanization of Science》（世界化科研）被著名社会学家乌尔里希·贝克誉为世界主义社会学理论研究的破冰之作。2013年4月，欧洲第一届科技评估会议对此书进行了专场讨论，张悦悦受捷克国家科学院之邀出席了讨论。其第二部学术专著《Green Politics in China》(中国绿色政治，与M Barr合著)为哈佛大学国际关系学教授托尼·萨志推崇为“任何关注地球未来与中国正在变化的政府与社会关系的人都应该阅读的一本书。”  第三部学术专著《The Elephant and the Dragon in Contemporary Life Sciences: A Call for Decolonising Global Governance》被MIT人类学和科技社会学教授迈克尔-费歇尔评价“是未来科技社会学的标杆性作品”。

2014年，张悦悦获得英国国家经济和社会研究委员会的“未来科研领袖”奖金，进一步推动中国和欧洲关于生命科学合作与公众互动方面的研究。2019年获得美国自然科学基金（NSF）的经费，和美国学者Kathleen Vogel and Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley一起研究（中英美）关于人类基因编辑的伦理治理问题。她受法国著名社会学家、法国人文科学之家基金会会长米歇尔-维沃尔卡之邀，担任人文科学之家基金会长期兼职研究员。

张悦悦曾经为记者、专栏作家，因为好奇考取过中国会计从业资格，举办过三次摄影个展，出版过两本非学术中文书籍（1999年由中国少年儿童出版社出版的《十二岁我到美国读中学》；以及2017年由三联出版社出版的《小世界：在欧洲做学术的注脚）），其学术和个人经历目前为40多家中外媒体采访和报道过。