I am an Associate Professor at the Department of Government, University of Bergen (UiB). A political scientist by training, my research focuses on politics of China and authoritarian governance, with a particular emphasis on state–society relations, civil society and NGO policy. More broadly, I study authoritarianism in East Asia (China and the Korean penninsular) and international affairs in the Asia-Pacific.
My works are forthcoming or published in peer-reviewed journals and policy outlets including Journal of Chinese Political Science, Australian Journal of International Affairs, Asian Survey, Journal of East Asian Studies, Democratization, and The Diplomat, among others. My current book project focuses on explaining the paradox of NGO sector expansion in authoritarian China, showing how the state strategically fosters and controls civil society using mechanisms of outsourcing to enhance governance while mitigating political risks.
At UiB, I teach in the MA Program in Politics and Governance of Global Challenges. I teach courses on politics of China, academic writing, and quantitative methods.
I am an associate at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), a co-organizer of GIGA China Series, and a non-resident fellow at the European Center for North Korean Studies at University of Vienna. I have held fellowships and a visiting position at Fudan University in Shanghai, China.
I earned my MA and PhD in Political Science from Stanford University. I have also studied at Tsinghua University, Korea University, and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
Please see my google scholar, research, and invited talks and conferences for more details. You can reach me at esther.song@uib.no.