Luigi Tomba, BA (Venice), PhD (San Marino)
Fellow, Department of Political and Social Change

Email: luigi.tomba@anu.edu.au

Biographical Statement

My main research interest is on Chinese urbanization and urban politics. I worked on China's labour reform (marketization, ideology, mobility and policy) and more recently my research moved towards urban governance, residential segregation, urban citizenship and the political discourses of stratification, "quality" and the middle class. I worked in the cities Beijing, Chengdu and Shenyang where I am presently developing a research on "Community and New forms of social stratification" funded by an ARC Discovery Grant.

Since 2005 I am the Co-editor, with Andrew Kipnis, of The China Journal.

Research Interests

Chinese contemporary politics and society, labour markets and labour reform, urban politics, white collar workers, neighbourhood politics and governance, housing reform, residential segregation, consumption and social classes.

Key Publications

• "Of Quality Harmony and Community. Civilization and the Middle Class in Urban China" in positions: east asia cultures critiques, Forthcoming 2008
• With Beibei Tang, "The Forest City. Homeownership and New Wealth in Shenyang" Chap. 10 in David S.G. Goodman (ed.) The New Rich in China. Future Rulers, Present Lives, London, Routledge Forthcoming, May 2008
• "Fortress China. Space and Governance in China’s Proprietary Communities" (Baolei zhongguo. yezhu xiaoqu zhong de kongjian yu zhili) in He Zengke, Thomas Heberer and Gunther Schubert (eds.), Citizen participation in rural and urban areas and political legitimacy (Chengxiang gongmin canyu he zhengzhi hefaxing), Beijing: Zhongyang bianyi chubanshe, pp. 285-302.
• "Residential Space and Collective Interest Formation in Beijing's Housing Disputes", The China Quarterly, No. 184, 2005.
• (ed.)"China's Transition" A discussion forum, with Lucien Bianco, Rudolf Wagner and Guido Samarani, Passato e Presente, No. 66, 2005.
• "Creating an Urban Middle Class: Social Engineering in Beijing", in The China Journal, No. 51, January 2004.
• Paradoxes of Labour Reform: Chinese Labour Theory and Practice from Socialism to Market, London, RoutledgeCurzon and Honolulu University of Hawaii press, 2002.
• (ed.) East Asian Capitalism: Conflicts, Growth and Crisis, Milan, Feltrinelli, 2002.
• Storia della Repubblica Popolare Cinese (A History of the People's Republic of China), Milan, Bruno Mondadori, 2002, pp. 256.

Career Highlights

Fellow, RSPAS, Department of Political and Social Change, (2006-); Co-editor of The China Journal (2005-); Research Fellow, RSPAS, Contemporary China Centre and Dept. of Political and Social Change (2001-2005); Lecturer in Chinese Politics, Faculty of Asian Studies, ANU (2002) ; Economic Advisor, Italian Embassy in Beijing (1997-1999) ; Research Fellow, Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Foundation, Milan (1991-2001) ; Research Fellow Centro Studi Politica Internazionale, Rome (1992-1997).