Min Zhou
Position
Contact
Credentials
PhD 2011 (Harvard)
Area of expertise
International sociology, global change, quantitative methods, East Asian societies
Min Zhou is a Professor of Sociology at the 番茄社区. He received his PhD and Master’s degrees from Harvard University in the United States. Before coming to North America, he had his college education at Peking University in China. This global living experience informs his sociological research. Overall, Min Zhou’s research interests center on the processes and consequences of various forms of global social change.
Recognizing its multifaceted nature, he studies global change across multiple domains and through three lines of inquiry. His first line of inquiry investigates the structure and evolution of global economic networks through innovative integration of the gravity model and social network analysis. His research from this line of inquiry has been published in Social Networks, Social Forces, Social Science Research, International Sociology, Sociological Quarterly, Sociological Forum, and Oxford Handbook of Social Network Analysis.
His second line of inquiry focuses on patterns and trends in public opinion, identity formation, and organization building within the modern global polity, with an emphasis on issues of nationalism, transnationalism, human rights, and environmentalism. Findings from this line of inquiry have been published in journals such as Social Science Research, Canadian Review of Sociology, Sociological Forum, Sociological Inquiry, Rationality and Society, International Sociology, Sociological Perspectives, and International Journal of Canadian Studies.
The third line of inquiry studies China’s rapid social transformations and their domestic and global implications. Through exploring nationalist movements, Sino-Japanese relations, health, labor markets, and internal migration in China, his research fills important gaps in the scholarship on China’s fast-changing social fabric. Recent projects, supported by SSHRC Insight Development (PI, 2013-2015) and Insight (PI, 2017-2021) grants, and UVic’s Lansdowne Early Career Scholar Award (2020-2023), have produced articles published in journals including Social Science & Medicine, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Gender & Society, Journal of East Asian Studies, Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, Rationality and Society, Sociological Quarterly, International Sociology, Population, Space and Place, and Chinese Sociological Review.
Faces of UVic Research video
In this video, Min discusses his research on global economics and how ordinary citizens help shape government policy.
Publications
Refereed articles
Zhou, Min and Wei Guo. Forthcoming. “Sooner, Later, or Never: Changing Fertility Intentions Due to COVID-19 in China’s COVID-19 Epicentre.” Population Studies (online first). .
Zhou, Min and Wei Guo. Forthcoming. “Housing Characteristics and Health in Urban China: A Comparative Study of Rural Migrants and Urban Locals.” Population, Space and Place (online first). .
Zhou, Min and Wei Guo. Forthcoming. "Local, Trans-Local, and Fellow Townspeople Ties: Differential Effects of Social Relations on Physical Health among China's Rural-to-Urban Migrants." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (online first). .
Zhou, Min and Xiaowei Ning. 2022. “Does Internet Use Promote or Inhibit Social Capital? Empirical Evidence from the 2017 Chinese General Social Survey.” Journal of Asian Sociology 51(3): 225-248.
Zhou, Min. 2022. “COVID-19-Related Stigma and Its Impact on Psychological Distress: A Cross-Sectional Study in Wuhan, China.” Health Science Reports 5(5): e758..
Deng, Yanhua and Min Zhou (equal authorship). 2022. “Why People Don’t Protest: Work Units, Selective Paternalism, and Social Ties in China.” The China Review 22(3): 243-269.
Zhou, Min. 2022. “Differential Effectiveness of Regional Trade Agreements, 1958-2012: The Conditioning Effects from Homophily and World-System Status.” The Sociological Quarterly 63(2): 337-358.
Zhou, Min and Wei Guo. 2021. “Social Factors and Worry Associated with COVID-19: Evidence from a Large Survey in China.” Social Science & Medicine 277: 113934.
Zhou, Min and Wei Guo. 2021. “Subjective Distress about COVID-19 and Its Social Correlates: Empirical Evidence from Hubei Province of China.” Journal of Affective Disorders 289: 46-54.
Zhou, Min. 2021. “The Shifting Income-Obesity Relationship: Conditioning Effects from Economic Development and Globalization.” SSM - Population Health 15: 100849.
Zhou, Min and Wei Guo. 2021. “Comparison of Second-Child Fertility Intentions between Local and Migrant Women in Urban China: A Blinder–Oaxaca Decomposition.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 47(11): 2417-2438.
Zhou, Min and Tianyang Hu. 2020. "Social Tolerance of Homosexuality: A Quantitative Comparison of Mainland China, Singapore, and Taiwan." Chinese Sociological Review 52(1): 27-55.
Zhou, Min. 2019. "Gender Differences in the Provision of Job-Search Help." Gender & Society 33(5): 746-771.
Zhou, Min. 2019. "The Shifting Burden of Obesity: Changes in the Distribution of Obesity in China, 2010-2015." International Sociology 34(3): 347-367.
Zhou, Min. 2019. "How Elite Chinese Students View Other Countries: Findings from a Survey in Three Top Beijing Universities." Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 47(1): 167-188.
Zhou, Min and Tianyang Hu. 2019. "Jobs Found through Social Contacts: Puzzling Coexistence of Higher Job Satisfaction and Higher Quitting Intentions." The Sociological Quarterly 60(1): 116-137.
Zhou, Min and Hanning Wang. 2018. "The Role of Rationality in Motivating Participation in Social Movements: The Case of Anti-Japanese Demonstrations in China." Rationality and Society (30)1: 155-186.
Zhou, Min and Hanning Wang. 2017. “Anti-Japanese Sentiment among Chinese University Students: The Influence of Nationalist Propaganda.” Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 46(1): 167-185.
Zhou, Min and Hanning Wang. 2017. “社会运动参与动机的整合模型：以我国反日游行为例” (in Chinese) (“An Integrative Model of Motivations for Movement Participation: The Case of Anti-Japanese Demonstrations in China”). Tsinghua Sociological Review 7: 35-64.
Zhou, Min and Hanning Wang. 2016. “Participation in Anti-Japanese Demonstrations in China: Evidence from a Survey on Three Elite Universities in Beijing.” Journal of East Asian Studies 16(3): 391-413.
Zhou, Min. 2016. “Environmental Skepticism and Its Impact on Environmental Behavior in Canada.” International Journal of Canadian Studies 53: 61-84.
Zhou, Min. 2016. "Social and Individual Sources of Self-Identification as Global Citizens: Evidence from the Interactive Multilevel Model." Sociological Perspectives 59(1): 153-176.
Zhou, Min, Gang Wu, and Helian Xu. 2016. "Structure and Formation of Top Networks in International Trade, 2001-2010." Social Networks 44: 9-21.
Zhou, Min. 2015. "Global Distribution of Transnational Human Rights NGOs: The Effects of Domestic Resources and Institutions." Sociological Inquiry. 85(4): 576-599.
Zhou, Min. 2015. "The Efficacy of Regional Trade Agreements, 1958-2006: The Effect of Institution Creation on Market Expansion." Sociological Forum 30(3): 721-742.
Zhou, Min. 2015. "Public Environmental Skepticism: A Cross-National and Multi-Level Analysis." International Sociology. 30(1): 61-85
Zhou, Min. 2014. "Signaling Commitments, Making Concessions: Democratization and State Ratification of International Human Rights Treaties, 1966-2006." Rationality and Society 26(4): 475-508.
Zhou, Min. 2013. "Public Environmental Concern in Canada: A Multidimensional Analysis." Canadian Review of Sociology 50(4): 453-481.
Zhou, Min. 2013. “Public Support for International Human Rights Institutions: A Cross-National and Multi-Level Analysis.” Sociological Forum 28(3): 525-548.
Zhou, Min. 2013. “Substitution and Stratification: The Interplay between Dyadic and Systemic Proximity in Global Trade, 1993-2005.” The Sociological Quarterly 54(2): 302-334.
Zhou, Min. 2012. “An Alternative Explanation for Anti-Japanese Sentiment in China: Shifting State-Society Interaction in China’s Japan Policy.” Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia 11(2): 61-75.
Zhou, Min. 2012. “Participation in International Human Rights NGOs: The Effect of Democracy and State Capacity.” Social Science Research 41(5): 1254-1274.
Zhou, Min and Chan-ung Park. 2012. “The Cohesion Effect of Structural Equivalence on Global Bilateral Trade, 1948-2000.” International Sociology 27(4): 502-523.
Zhou, Min. 2011. “Intensification of Geo-Cultural Homophily in Global Trade: Evidence from the Gravity Model.” Social Science Research 40(1): 193-209.
Zhou, Min. 2010. “Multidimensionality and Gravity in Global Trade, 1950-2000.” Social Forces 88(4): 1619-1643.
Book chapters
Zhou, Min. 2022. "Core-Periphery Structure." Pp. 309-310 in The Sage Encyclopedia of Research Design (2nd edition), edited by Bruce B. Frey. Sage Publications. DOI: .
Zhou, Min. 2020. “The International Trade Network.” Pp. 583-597 in The Oxford Handbook of Social Networks, edited by Ryan Light and James Moody. New York: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190251765.013.36. (online:
Beckfield, Jason and Min Zhou. 2012. “Embedded Regionalism.” Pp. 81-93 in New Visions for Market Governance: Crisis and Renewal, edited by Kate Macdonald, Shelley Marshall and Sanjay Pinto. Routledge.