Dr Weidi Zheng

Weidi Zheng holds an MSc and a PhD in Global Media and Post-national Communications, from SOAS University of London. Her expertise is on media anthropology, political communications, journalism studies and China-Africa/Africa-China studies. For her PhD, she conducted a year-long ethnographic research with Kenyan-Chinese reporters, SOEs, expats and small traders in Nairobi and Beijing. Weidi is keen to bringing an anti-essentialism approach into the conceptualisation and theorisation of South-South collaborations, through grounded, inductive and ethnographic method. Her recent work has focused on digital inclusion, innovation, entrepreneurship, and values and politics of technology. 

Research Interests and PhD Supervision

• Global China
• China's globalising internet
• Innovation and digital entrepreneurship
• South-South communications

Selected Publications

The Silent China: Toward an Anti-Essentialism Approach for South– South EncountersZheng, W., 28 Mar 2022, In: International Journal of Communication. 16, 2022, p. 1898–1917Article › peer-review

Positioning Ourselves on China in Africa: An Interview with Hairong Yan*Hai, H. & Zheng, W., 2021, In: Journal of African Cultural Studies. p. 152-163

Reflecting on “Chinese” Positionality in Africa: An Encounter with Another “Other”Zheng, W., 2021, In: Journal of African Cultural Studies. p. 130–139

Thinking China from Africa: Encounter with the Other OtherZheng, W. (Guest ed.), Cheng, Y. (Guest ed.) & Coetzee, C. (Guest ed.), 2021, In: Journal of African Cultural Studies. 33, 2, p. 119-129