China Media Centre 2012 Spring Seminar

Gerda Wielander’s research interest lies in contemporary China’s social and political development. Within this she is particularly interested in the way Christian belief is influencing and shaping political discourse in contemporary China. She has approached this subject from the point of the ‘dissident Christian’ with a focus on Chinese house church publications and activities, with particular focus on the role of Chinese Christian intellectuals. Her focus has now shifted to the official political discourse, in particular the government’s discourse on the Harmonious Society, and the possible Christian influences that underpin this discourse.

Gerda has recently published articles in this field and is working on a monograph on the influence of Christian thought and belief on contemporary China’s social and political changes.

Gerda Wielander was educated in Vienna and Beijing. She obtained an M.A. in Chinese Studies in 1990 with a dissertation on Liang Qichao’s historiography, including a first translation into German of Liang’s “Xin Shixue” (New Historiography). Her PhD (1995) investigated the Malaysian Chinese evaluation of China’s Democracy Movement (1976-1989) as expressed in the region’s vibrant Chinese press.

She has taught at a number of British universities including SOAS and Cambridge before coming to Westminster in a full-time capacity.

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