Biography
Zhixin Wan is a journalist and researcher whose work lies at the intersection of storytelling and structural inquiry. As a student journalist, she reported on human-interest stories spanning finance, agriculture, technology, and social equity. Her writings were published on Bloomberg News and other global institutions. Her writing has focused on the lived realities behind systems—whether tracing the economic aftermath of COVID-19 through essential workers in her hometown, or documenting the post-lockdown struggles of blind massage therapists in Beijing.
Now a DPhil candidate in Anthropology at Oxford, Zhixin researches the politics and political economy of disability inclusion in contemporary China, with a focus on individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Her project investigates how “inclusion” is imagined, negotiated, and implemented by different actors—including parents, NGOs, corporations, and government bodies—and how these visions are shaped by deeper social values around care, productivity, and social worth.
Zhixin’s fieldwork follows a multi-sited ethnographic approach across diverse regions of urban China, where she traces how local interpretations of inclusion shift across varying fiscal capacities, governance styles, and civic cultures. She is particularly interested in the rise of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and philanthropic investment in disability, and how these initiatives intersect—productively or unevenly—with state and family-led systems of care. Her work aims to contribute to global conversations on disability justice, inclusive development, and the future of social support in times of economic and moral transition.
Zhixin recently presented part of her research at the panel Extraordinary Bodies, Disability Justice, and Metamorphosis, in dialogue with leading disability scholars and advocates including Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Anna Landre, Stuart Murray, Hannah Thompson, and Khansa Maria. Her work contributes to emerging conversations on disability, care, and cross-sector collaboration in global contexts.