Dr. Elena Shih

Biography

Elena Shih is an Associate Professor of American Studies and Ethnic Studies at Brown University, with dual affiliations in Sociology and East Asian Studies. Her scholarship primarily focuses on human trafficking, labor migration, and transnational social movements, particularly examining the intersection of race, gender, and socio-economic structures in anti-trafficking interventions. Shih is known for her book 'Manufacturing Freedom: Sex Work, Anti-Trafficking Rehab, Racial Wages Rescue', which draws on a multi-sited global ethnography based on extensive fieldwork in China, Thailand, and the United States. She critiques contemporary anti-trafficking efforts, arguing that they often perpetuate systems of oppression rather than resolve them. Shih has received numerous accolades for her teaching and research, including the 2019 Hazeltine Citation for Excellence in Teaching and multiple awards for community-engaged research. As a Mellon Emerging Faculty Leader, she organizes programming to foster interdisciplinary inquiry into issues of human trafficking and has served on editorial boards for reputable journals in the field. Her work aims to understand and dismantle the systemic challenges faced by marginalized communities in global contexts, particularly regarding the impact of economic policies on ethnic minority populations.

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