My research examines memory, heritage, identity, and state-society relations in contemporary China. Below is a selection of books, peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and public scholarship.
Here is a curated list of my academic and public writings:
Books
In 2024, my first book was published with Palgrave Macmillan, titled “The Invention of Tradition in China: The Story of a Village and Nation Remade“. In China, heritage projects are sprouting across the countryside as a call for the great revival and rejuvenation of the nation. My book examines the transformation of a Dong ethnic minority in Guizhou province into a state-led “Traditional Village” 传统村落 heritage site.
You can listen to my interview on the book in New Books Network in Chinese Studies.
**Get in touch if you are interested in a free PDF copy of my book.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
When Dance Goes Viral: Racial Othering and the Making of Sino-African Cultural Imaginaries, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies (2026)
Are Ethnic Chinese Artisanal Practices in Need of Saving? Heritage, Women’s Labor, and the Commodification of Crafts and Textiles in a Dong Ethnic Minority Village, Journal of Anthropological Research (2025)
On Self-Reliant Masculinities and Rural Returnees in Ethnic China, Focaal: Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology (2023)
Material Compromises in the Planning of a Traditional Village in Southwest China, Social Analysis (2021)
Popular Media and Essays
My Dear Chi’: Love Letters at the Dawn of the Mao Zedong Era, Global China Pulse
Through the Eyes of an Anthropologist summarises an event I organised in December 2024 in Beijing with anthropologist He Beili. In the essay, we focus on both of our journeys to shed preconceptions and understand our interlocutors by placing ourselves into their environments and daily lives to gain as close to a real experience from their vantage point.
Xi Jinping’s Traditional Villages, Bending Chineseness: Culture and Ethnicity After Xi (Made in China Journal)
The Social Relations of Textile Traditions in a Dong Ethnic Minority: A Photo Essay, China Adorned: Ritual and Custom of Ancient Cultures (Thames & Hudson)
Beyond writing for academic audiences, I have contributed to Antroblogi, a Finnish independent science online publication on life and society from an anthropological perspective: “Ethnographic Postcards: Porch Small Talk” (2023); “Dressing the Dead” (2019); “Shaping Space, Shaping Gaze: Swimming naked in Yrjönkatu swimming pool” with Sonal Makhija (2017); “Addressing Abortion and my rebellious privates” (2017)
I have also written Book Reviews for numerous academic journals, including Ethnos, The China Journal, Asian Ethnicity, Social Anthropology, Suomen Antropologi, International Institute for Asian Studies, China Perspectives and Journal of Asian Studies.
**For a full list of my publications, please refer to my Google Scholar page and University of Helsinki Research Portal**
SUVI RAUTIO 