Joseph Beadle (2025)

I am a PhD researcher in the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge, funded by the Economic & Social Research Council. Before this, I completed a postgraduate fellowship at Harvard University, where I also taught undergraduate students as a Teaching Fellow. I did my undergraduate studies in Chinese language and culture at Cambridge (Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies) and the Taiwan Normal University.

Based on fieldwork in China and Rwanda, my PhD project explores algorithmic technologies, platform economies, and developmental infrastructure in a time of growing Chinese influence in Africa. This research is grounded in a commitment to working in the languages of Chinese and Kinyarwanda.

In addition to my doctoral work, I am currently completing a co-authored book on Chinese nation-building with Professor Adam Yuet Chau (University of Cambridge) and Dr. Jacqueline Zhenru Lin (Chinese University of Hong Kong). Other projects that I am developing for publication engage issues including platform culture, fintech, climate action, and human-animal relations in China.

Besides my research, I am involved in numerous initiatives for making anthropology accessible and relevant beyond academia to the widest possible audiences. These include teaching digital anthropology in Chinese public high schools and my current work as Postgraduate President & Outreach Co-Chair of the Cambridge University Social Anthropology Society.

Previously, I won the University of Cambridge Vice Chancellor’s Award for Social Impact in recognition of my publicly engaged research and community outreach work. I am passionate about improving access to university for students from underrepresented backgrounds, and I have led on several outreach projects in the U.K., U.S., Zambia, Japan, Taiwan, and mainland China. Outside academia, I have broadcasting experience on BBC radio and television, and professional experience working for an NGO in Taiwan and as a classical and jazz musician.