Yunchen Tian

Kyoto University, Japan

yunchentian [at] gmail.com

Yunchen Tian (or just Tian for short) is Specially Appointed Associate Professor at the Kyoto University Faculty of Law.  They hold a PhD in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University. Their research focuses on the governance and discursive construction of labor migration policies in Japan.

Tian’s work has been supported by grants from American Councils and the Japan Foundation. Their work has been published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Social Science Japan Journal, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, and Citizenship Studies. They were recently awarded the 2023 ISS/OUP Prize in Modern Japanese Studies for their article “Workers, Neighbours, or Something Else? Local Policies and Policy Narratives of Technical Intern Training Program Participants”. Outside of academic journals, they have been published in Foreign Affairs and have spoken on immigration issues in Japan with both foreign and Japanese media sources.

Tian is a member of the International Studies Association, the American Political Science Association, the Japanese Association for Migration Policy Studies and the Japanese Association of Migration Studies.

Research statement: 

As a researcher of migration governance and politics in East Asia, Tian examines the evolving roles of civil society organizations as key mediating and facilitating institutions. Through extensive Japan-based fieldwork, Tian has engaged with a wide range of organizations whose activities span the disciplining and governance of migrant workers, oversight of employers, and more militant forms of labor rights advocacy and worker support. Over the past decade, the practices and strategies of individual organizations and actors have shifted in response to changes in policy frameworks and institutional “rules of the game.” Drawing on examples from organizations that have generously offered their cooperation and support, Tian’s recent research interests focus on how civil society organizations adapt their activities and strategies under changing policy and institutional conditions.