Generation Xi: Youth Attitudes Toward Civic Engagement in China

November 14, 2025 — Jessica Teets presents findings on how China’s “COVID generation,” youth who came of age during lockdowns, are reshaping norms of civic engagement. Drawing on original survey data from the Civic Participation in China Surveys (2018-2024), she explores shifting attitudes toward volunteering, local governance, and state-society relations across generational lines.

Speaker:
Jessica C. Teets is a Professor at Middlebury College, and Guang Biao Distinguished Chair Professor at Zhejiang University. Her research focuses on governance in authoritarian regimes, especially the role of civic participation. She is the author of "Civil Society Under Authoritarianism: The China Model" (Cambridge University Press, 2014) and has a new book manuscript (with Dr. Xiang Gao) under review on changing governance under Xi Jinping, tentatively titled "Beyond Fragmented Authoritarianism."

Moderator:
Qin Gao, Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice; Acting Director of the Asian American Initiative; Associate Dean for Doctoral Education; Director of China Center for Social Policy, Columbia School of Social Work

This program is part of the 2025-2026 Weatherhead East Asian Institute lecture series "COVID-19 Governance and Impacts: China from Comparative Perspectives." Learn more:
https://weai.columbia.edu/chinacovidp...

Hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and cosponsored by the Columbia China Center for Social Policy.