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Yunan Xu is an assistant professor of development studies at the Centre of Development Studies in the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) at the University of Cambridge. Before joining Cambridge, Yunan was a postdoctoral researcher at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) at Erasmus University Rotterdam, working on an ERC Advanced Grant project related to the global land rush. Yunan also previously held a postdoctoral position at Singapore Management University, where research focused on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Yunan holds a PhD in development studies from ISS at Erasmus University. The research interests encompass food politics, land politics, the agrochemical complex, plantations, rural transformation, and the land-labor nexus, which includes aspects of rural-urban migration and livelihood changes. Current research investigates the global food transformation and its intersection with land use, property rights, agrochemicals, and infrastructure. Yunan's doctoral work examined the rise of industrial tree plantations in southern China through critical political economy and political ecology lenses, highlighting the complexities of China's role in the global land rush.
Standard postgraduate requirements for Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) and related humanities departments.