Sarah Christine Swider (ef8342)

University information

Title: Associate Professor
Unit: Sociology
Department: College of Liberal Arts & Science

Contact information

313-577-3282
656 W. Kirby Avenue, 2247 FAB
Liberal Arts and Sciences
Sociology
Detroit, 48202

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Department:

Sociology

Title: Associate Professor
Secondary Title: Affiliated Faculty Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Phone: 313-577-2930
Fax: 313-577-2735
Office:

2247 F/AB

Youtube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJbq0DYyhZ4&ab_channel=WSUHumanitiesCenter
Research interest(s)/area of expertise:
  • Precarious and informal work
  • Labor and labor movements
  • Sociology of development
  • Migration and social inequality
  • Gender, labor and social movements
  • China and Asian studies
Education – Degrees, Licenses, Certifications: Ph.D. in Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison (September, 2008) M.A. in Sociology (May, 2004) M.S. in Industrial Labor Relations, University of Wisconsin-Madison (August, 2000) B.A. in Political Science (with distinction), Cornell University (May, 1994) Intermediate and Advanced Language Training (Saint Michael’s College Certificate), Beijing Language and Culture Institute, Beijing, China (summer/fall 2004) Chinese American Center, Chinese Language Study Summer Immersion Program (Saint Michael’s College Certificate), Hopkins-Nanjing Center, Nanjing, China (summer 2002)
Awards and grants:
  • Swider, S. and Tong Xin. “Informal Construction and Domestic Work: Collaborative Research on Institutional Influences in Job Quality.” Subcontract for research in China $19,500, Ford Foundation, January 2015-June 2017
  • Swider, S. and Nicholas Perry. “Detroit’s Informal Worker Initiative: Moving from Detriment to Advantage.” Student Urban Research Experiences (SURE) Grant $2,000, Wayne State Urban Studies Group, 2014-5
  • “Building China and Re-Constructing Asia: migration, citizenship and development.” Humanities Center Fellowship, Wayne State University, $4,505.00, Summer 2012
  • “Shaping the Informal Labor Market in China: Understanding State-Market relations.” Junior Faculty Grant in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, Wayne State University, $48,148, 2010-2011
  • “Labor market and employment variation among migrants in different Chinese cities.” University Research Grant Program, Wayne State University, $10,000, Summer 2010
  • Working Group on Contemporary China, (with seven colleagues), Wayne State University, 2010-11, $8,000
Selected publications:
  • 2015. “Building China: The Rise of Informal Work and the New Precariat,” Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY
  • Winner of 2016 Book Award, Sociology of Development Section, American Sociological Association
  • Honorable Mention for 2016 Book Award, Labor and Labor Movements Section, American Sociological Association
  • “Migration and Regional Inequality: Changing Characteristics of China’s Economic Inequality.” Eurasian Geography and Economics (with co-author Lianqing Peng).
  • “Informal and precarious work, the precariat and China.” Rural China
  • 2016. “Land Expropriation in China: An Examination of Negotiations and Compensation,” Urban Geography, pp. 1-19 (co-authors Hui Wang, Xiao Chen and Pengyu Zhu)
  • 2015. 纸永久暂时性的中国建筑行业 (Permanent Temporariness in the Chinese Construction Industry), Labor Sociology Review (劳动社会学评论) July vol. 1.
  • 2014. “Building China: Migrants in Precarious Work in China’s Construction Industry,” in Work, Employment, and Society. Published online before print August 4, 2014, doi: 10.1177/0950017014526631.
  • Awarded the 2016 Work, Employment and Society (WES) SAGE Prize for Innovation and/or Excellence
  • 2014. “Reshaping China’s Urban Citizenship: Street Vendors, Chengguan and Struggles over the Right to the City,” Critical Sociology. Published online before print April 29, 2014, doi: 10.1177/0896920514529676
Citation index:

Courses taught by Sarah Christine Swider

Winter Term 2025 (future)

Winter Term 2024

Fall Term 2023

Winter Term 2022

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