► Short CV
 

Ardita Osmani is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen (IN-EAST) and an affiliated researcher with RTG 2951 Cross-Border Labour Markets at Bielefeld University. Her research sits at the intersection of Chinese politics, migration governance, and feminist political science, examining how the Chinese party-state governs its citizens abroad. She holds a BA and MA in Sinology from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, and pursued advanced language and area-studies training during overseas exchange programmes at Nanjing University and Renmin University of China, Beijing. Since 2023 she has taught courses on Chinese politics at the University of Duisburg-Essen.

► Research Interests
 

• Chinese Politics
• Extraterritorial governance / diaspora governance
• Governance Studies
• State-Society Relations
• Feminist Political Science
• Migration Governance

► Current Project
 

PhD dissertation: The Politics of Non-Governance: Chinese Labour Migration Between China and Europe (University of Duisburg-Essen / IN-EAST, supervised by Prof. Nele Noesselt; affiliated PhD, RTG 2951 Cross-Border Labour Markets, Bielefeld University). A three-level study of how Chinese labour migration to Europe is governed and what fills the gap when states decline to act. At the macro level, the project examines bilateral non-decision as a deliberate governance strategy, using an unratified China-Italy migration MoU as a diagnostic case; at the meso level, it traces the digital platforms and brokerage networks that emerge as shadow migration infrastructure in the absence of formal regulation; at the micro level, it examines how street-level bureaucrats and cultural mediators interpret and enact the law in practice. The project’s central claim is that migrants’ apparent non-demand for institutional protection is read by officials as non-need, turning invisibility into a self-reinforcing governance outcome with implications well beyond the Italian case.

► Publications
 

Journal articles, working papers & reports

• Navigating Dual Sovereignties: China’s Digital Governance and Its Transnational Citizens. – Working paper presented at the Association of Chinese Political Studies (ACPS) Virtual Conference, 2024.
• (with Romano, Giulia) La BRI in Europa: il caso di Duisburg, tra i sogni di sviluppo e una realtà di declino. OrizzonteCina, October 2024.
• A Perspective on Xi Jinping’s National Rejuvenation from His Tenure to Date: Self-Reliance and Self-Dependent Rejuvenation. European Guanxi, October 2022.

Policy pieces & public commentary

L’Agenda Women, Peace and Security (WPS) e l'alternativa sviluppista cinese. – Contribution to the debate Promuovere l'Agenda “Donne, Pace e Sicurezza” per una società più equa e inclusiva, CESPI, February 2026. Read online → Forthcoming in an edited volume, Quaderni Donzelli.

► Conferences, Workshops, and other academic activities

2026

• 26th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies (EACS), 21–25 July 2026 — paper: “Beyond the State: Chinese Diaspora Feminism and Non-Contentious Citizenship in the Digital Sphere”
• Annual Workshop, Iserlohner Kreis, 18–19 July 2026
• 23rd Annual Conference, International Migration Research Network (IMISCOE), 29 June–2 July 2026 — panel “Understanding Labour Migration: Recent Dynamics and Tensions,” paper presented
• IMISCOE Writing Retreat, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 23–24 June 2026 — IMISCOE Migration Governance Working Group
• RTG 2951 Workshop with Dr. Ania Plomien, Bielefeld University, 16 June 2026 — PhD project presentation

2025

• 8th CERPE Workshop, Trier University, 26–28 November 2025 — poster presentation
• 50 Years of EU-China Relations Workshop, Ghent, Belgium, 8–11 September 2025 — paper: "The Cooperation Between Italy and China: A Labour Migration Perspective"
• International Sociology Association Conference, Rabat, Morocco, 6–11 July 2025 — paper: "Digital Migration Infrastructures: Chinese-Language Platforms and Labor Access in Italy"
• Joint Workshop, RTG 2951 Cross-Border Labour Markets & SFB 1604 Production of Migration, University of Osnabrück, 13–14 January 2025

2024

• Association of Chinese Political Studies (ACPS) Virtual Conference, 6–8 December 2024 - working paper: “Navigating Dual Sovereignties: China's Digital Governance and Its Transnational Citizens”
• Sino-German Relations in Times of Crisis Workshop, Freie Universität Berlin & University of Duisburg-Essen, 16 September 2024 — co-organizer and speaker
• The International Political Economy of Labor Migration Conference, University of Duisburg-Essen, 18–20 July 2024 — co-organizer
• China Work Group: Current Challenges in Research and Teaching, LMU Munich, 1–2 June 2024 — paper: “Doing Research with Overseas Chinese”
• ECPR Winter School, Leiden, The Netherlands, 5–9 February 2024 — training in interpretive research methods

► Teaching
 

Introduction to Chinese Politics (BA, SS 2024, 2025, 2026) This course decodes the internal logic of the Party-State, from the 1949 Revolution through the reform decades to today, and equips students with the political vocabulary (Democratic Centralism, High-Quality Development) to read it. A weekly “Reading Between the Lines” briefing on Renmin Ribao (People's Daily) trains students in real-time discourse analysis of how the Party signals priorities and manages legitimacy.

East Asia in Political Science (MA, WS 2024/25, 2025/26) A methodology-focused course examining how East Asia,  and individual countries within, is constructed as an object of academic investigation in political science and area studies. After a short introduction to the region's societies and political systems, sessions turn to peer-reviewed articles from both disciplines on selected topics, sharpening students' grasp of disciplinary method alongside regional substance.

Chinese Development Model: Challenges and Perspectives (BA and MA seminar, SS 2023, WS 2023/24) A seminar examining China's distinctive development trajectory — from economic reform to the Belt and Road Initiative — and the domestic and international challenges it now faces. Students engage critically with debates on state capitalism, sustainability, and global influence.