Dr. May Farid is a political scientist studying civil society, policy advocacy and environmental governance in contemporary China and beyond.
I am Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of San Diego's Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies. I study the interaction between citizen groups and states, with a focus on policy influence under authoritarianism. My expertise includes grassroots NGOs and state-NGO relations in China, and transnational environmental advocacy. Another branch of my research studies NGO interventions to empower citizens in the global South, such as fighting misinformation and promoting social cohesion in India. Before joining the Kroc School, I conducted research at the Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions and taught at the University of Hong Kong. Outside academia, I conducted an institutional capacity building program for rural grassroots NGOs in China for seven years, and carried out a four-year research project on development in ethnic minority regions for China’s leading government policy think-tank.
My research centers on the interplay between citizen initiatives and state policy and practice, and the implications of this dynamic for development and governance. Ordinary citizens are increasingly taking individual and collective initiative to address development challenges. Citizens of authoritarian regimes--and many democracies--struggle to have a voice in development and policy. How do citizen initiatives impact state policy and practice? What social and political dynamics foster citizen engagement?
I have explored these questions by studying how Chinese grassroots NGOs influence policy, how cross-sector knowledge communities generate knowledge that intersects with the policy process, education and development policy in China's ethnic minority regions, and how International NGOs intermediate China's overseas aid and investment and in its Belt and Road Initiative.