chris eberhardt, originally from Tacoma, Washington, is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Sociology from The New School for Social Research. He holds an M.A. and B.A. in Sociology. He was a 2008 India China Institute Student Fellow. chris also helped found the organization imagining global asia in 2006, and has since played an integral role in developing public events and contributing bi-lingual blogs.
Chris's Blog
Chinese Looking Glass
I first visited China in 2008 to research Internet and mobile phone use for environmentalism, but it was also a means for me to win a debate with a classmate from Shanghai. The first time we met in Fall 2007, she said that China “was just another country”, not a superpower in waiting. Conscious of those that use China as an excuse to increase US military budgets and the plethora of books about rising China, I had a hard time believing her. Yet it is a second comment, that sticks with me now, talking about a prominent American scholar of China’s environmental problems, my classmate from Shanghai said “I don’t think she cares about China.” I think what has happened is that I gradually care more and more about China and its people. As I write my dissertation on how Chinese understand their role in shouldering environmental problems, I increasingly look for ways to do research that is interesting and significant for the Chinese I meet every day and not just the scholars back in the United States. This blog then reflects some of the lessons and experiences I gain along the way.
