Present
Ph.D., Sociology
University of California, Berkeley
About
I am a political sociologist in training, with research interests at the intersection of social movements in authoritarian contexts and social network formation. I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley.
Current Work
My current research investigates collective action among gig workers in China, treating gig worker strikes as deviant cases that challenge prevailing theoretical expectations. I examine the conditions under which platform algorithms — designed to discipline and surveil labor — inadvertently facilitate strike mobilization, and how the gamification of work can give rise to a new kind of bargaining power that lets gig workers exert leverage against the platform.
This project has so far produced two papers:
1) “Gaming the Algorithm: Tactical Innovation and Collective Resistance in China’s Platform Economy” (David Su, 2025, under review), which won the 2026 Thompson Graduate Student Paper Award, the 2026 Meyer Zald Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Award, and the 2026 Herbert Blumer Prize.
2) “The Platforms of Contention: Algorithmic Organization of Work and Gig Worker Strikes in Post-Pandemic China” (David Su, 2025, in progress), supported by the Dr. C.F. Koo and Cecilia Koo Chair Fellowship.
Read more on the Research page.
Research Interests
Education
2025
M.A., Sociology
University of California, Berkeley
2022
M.Phil., Sociology and Demography
University of Oxford — Distinction
Awards & Fellowships
13 fellowships and paper awards to date, including the 2026 ASA Thompson Graduate Student Paper Award, the Meyer Zald Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Award, and the Herbert Blumer Prize. See the full list →
Languages
Cantonese, Mandarin, English.