Shuhuai Zhang is a historian specializing in the political and intellectual history of the People’s Republic of China. His primary research interests lie in the history of China’s early socialist construction and ideological shifts, as well as their implications for contemporary Chinese politics. He also has a background in China’s post-socialist political economy, especially the interplay between its economic reforms and ideological contests. Methodologically, his work aims to bridge the empirical richness of history with the theoretical rigor of political science. His current research examines the rise and fall of the party-state’s official theorists and propagandists during its early reform years (1976-1994).
Shuhuai holds an M.A. in Regional Studies-East Asia from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and a dual degree B.A. in History from Duke Kunshan University and Duke University.