School of Social and Political Science

Background

Dongwei Wang is a doctoral candidate in Sociology at the University of Edinburgh. Before doing his PhD, Dongwei completed an MSc by Research in Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh (2021) and an undergraduate study abroad programme in Sociology at the University of Glasgow (2020). He examines the complexities of overseas Chinese identity and contributes to a richer understanding of ‘Chineseness’ in the UK. Drawing on in-depth interviews conducted across four cities with longstanding historical and contemporary connections to Chinese communities, his project explores how national identity is understood and performed among first-generation, 1.5-generation and British-born Chinese in the context of globalisation and glocalisation. His research shows how social and symbolic boundaries are continually negotiated in relation to notional ‘others’, and how ‘in-between’ national identities and ‘betwixt-and-between’ transnationalism are reproduced through everyday practices.

Dongwei is accredited as an Associate Fellow of the Advance HE. Alongside his research, he provides teaching support across Sociology and interdisciplinary programmes at Edinburgh Futures Institute, including facilitating small-group teaching, undertaking marking of assignments and providing feedback, monitoring student progress, and liaising with course organisers regarding academic development and pastoral issues.

Dongwei is also an Alumni Ambassador for the University of Edinburgh, contributing to online events for postgraduate offer holders from China by sharing his experiences of study and life in Edinburgh. Beyond Edinburgh, he co-convenes the Cambridge Chinese Migration Studies Group (CCMSG), an interdisciplinary research and discussion group based at the Centre for the Study of Global Human Movement, University of Cambridge, where he supports the development of an engaged academic community around Chinese migration and diaspora research.

Publications 

Wang, D. (2026) ‘Understanding British Chinese identity through banal practices in everyday life: blended language and food culture’, in Neder, J. and Windberger, E.M. (eds.) Interdisciplinary Approaches to British Chinese Cultures. Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-3-032-10053-5_3.

Wang, D. (2024). Book Review. Negotiating Identities, Language and Migration in Global London: Bridging Borders, Creating Spaces, edited by Wang, Cangbai and Terry Lamb. Journal of Chinese Overseas 20(2), 261-265, Available From: Brill https://doi.org/10.1163/17932548-12341519

Lin, S., Wang, D., Yin, M. (2022). Migration Experience as Cultural Capital: A Case Study of Returnees’ Qiao Jia Le Businesses in Wenzhou. Journal of Overseas Chinese History Studies (in Chinese, 華僑華人歷史研究), 2022(04), pp. 49-57.

Lin, S., Wang, D. (2019). Constructing a Support System for Abandoned Children in Qiaoxiang from the Perspective of Social Ecosystem Theory: A Case Study of J Town in Fuqing. Journal of Overseas Chinese History Studies (in Chinese, 華僑華人歷史研究), 2019(02), pp. 68-74.

Tutorial Teaching

Academic year 2026/27

Invitation to Sociology (SCIL08017) 

Currents: Understanding and Addressing Global Challenges (EFIE08001), Edinburgh Futures Institute.

Academic year 2025/26 

Invitation to Sociology (SCIL08017) 

Currents: Understanding and Addressing Global Challenges (EFIE08001), Edinburgh Futures Institute.

Sociology 1b: Individual and Society (SCIL08018) 

Students as Change Agents (EFIE08003), Edinburgh Futures Institute.

Academic year 2024/25

Invitation to Sociology (SCIL08017)

Students as Change Agents (EFIE08003), Edinburgh Futures Institute.

Academic year 2023/24 

Researching Global Social Change (SCIL11029). 

Issues and Concepts in Digital Society (PGSP11466).

Currents: Understanding and Addressing Global Challenges (EFIE08001), Edinburgh Futures Institute.

Academic year 2022/23 

Communication and Academic Skills for Future Healthcare Professional, Centre for Open Learning.

Guest Lecture

Academic year 2022/23

East and Southeast Asian Racialisation Processes and Institutional Racism, Race and Ethnicity (SCIL10071), School of Social and Political Science

Doing Interviews, Qualitative Data Research (REDU11028), Moray House School of Education and Sport

On the Way Home: Overseas Chinese Students Negotiating Return Policies and Mobility during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Cambridge Chinese Migration Studies Seminar Series, University of Cambridge.

Conference Presentations

Wang, D. (2026) 'Switching, Blending or Distancing? Transformations of National Identity among Chinese in Britain'. British Sociological Association Annual Conference 2026, University of Manchester.

Wang, D. (2025) ‘Proud of Being Chinese? Understanding National Identity of Chinese Migrants in Global Cities in the UK’. British Sociological Association Annual Conference 2025, University of Manchester.

Wang, D. (2024) ‘Transnational and National Memory in Practising Charity among Overseas Chinese from Fujian’. The 33rd Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism (ASEN), Old College, University of Edinburgh.

Wang, D. (2023) ‘Reconstructing Chinese Identity: A Case Study of a Skilled Fujian-Chinese Migrants’ Support Group in the UK’. 20th IMISCOE Annual Conference, University of Warsaw. 

Wang, D. (2022) ‘Transnational Support of Skilled Chinese Migrants in the UK’. 30th Anniversary Conference of the International Society for the Study of Chinese Overseas, San Francisco, USA.