Overview
Dr David A Palmer is a Professor jointly appointed by the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of Sociology at the University of Hong Kong, which he joined in 2008. After completing his Ph.D. at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (School for Advanced Research, Université Paris PSL), he was the Eileen Barker Fellow in Religion and Contemporary Society in the Department of Sociology of the London School of Economics and Political Science, and, from 2004 to 2008, director of the Hong Kong Centre of the French School of Asian Studies (Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient), located at the Institute for Chinese Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is currently the President of the East Asian Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.
Palmer’s interdisciplinary research and teaching is situated at the intersection of anthropology and sociology, and is informed by scholarly traditions in history, religious studies and Sinology. He is best known for his award-winning books The Religious Question in Modern China (Joseph Levenson Award of the Association for Asian Studies and PROSE award of the American Publishers’ Association, co-authored with V. Goossaert) and Qigong Fever: Body, Science and Utopia in China (Francis L.K. Hsu Award of the Society for East Asian Anthropology), both of which have become essential reading for studies on contemporary Chinese society and religion. His latest book Dream Trippers: Global Daoism and the Predicament of Modern Spirituality (co-authored with E. Siegler) was published in 2017 by the University of Chicago Press, and in Chinese by HKU Press. He has also published numerous articles, journal issues and edited volumes on Chinese religion, civil society, Daoism, the Bahá’í Faith, and modern and transnational religious movements. His writings have been published in journals such as Current Anthropology, American Anthropologist, Economy and Society, American Journal of Cultural Sociology, the Journal of Asian Studies and Modern Asian Studies.
He leads the “Asian Religious Connections” research cluster at the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, where he leads projects on Daoism among the Yao ethnic minority in Laos, and on the cultural and religious dimensions of interactions between Chinese and local actors in countries of the Belt and Road Initiative. He is also co-convenor of the “Culture, Community and Social Equity” research cluster in the HKU Faculty of Social Sciences; and co-convenor of the HKU Anthropology Research Network.
Selected Publications
Books
The Civil Sphere in East Asia
2019 | (co-edited with Jeffrey Alexander, Agnes Ku and Sunwoong Park), Cambridge University Press, 320 pages.
Dream Trippers: Global Daoism and the Predicament of Modern Spirituality
2017 | (co-authored with Elijah Siegler), University of Chicago Press, 326 pages.
Zhongguoren de zongjiao shenghuo
2014 | (中國人的宗教生活), HKU Press. [Chinese edition of Chinese Religious Life]
Daoism in the Twentieth Century: Between Eternity and Modernity
2012 | (co-edited with Liu Xun), University of California Press, 404 pages.
Chinese Religious Life
2012 | (co-edited with Glenn Shive and Philip Wickeri), Oxford University Press, 296 pages.
The Religious Question in Modern China
2011 | (co-authored with Vincent Goossaert), University of Chicago Press, 464 pages.
Qigong Fever: Body, Science, and Utopia in China
2007 | Columbia University Press, 320 pages.
Mengdao Huashan 《夢道華山：全球道教與現代靈性的困境》
2023 | HKU Press, Open Access. [Chinese edition of Dream Trippers: Global Daoism and the Predicament of Modern Spirituality]
La fièvre du “Qigong” Guérison, religion et politique en Chine, 1949-1999
2005 | Paris: Editions de l’EHESS, 512 pages. [French edition of Qigong Fever: Body, Science and Utopia in China]
The Civil Sphere in East Asia
2019 | (co-edited with Jeffrey Alexander, Agnes Ku and Sunwoong Park), Cambridge University Press, 320 pages.
Dream Trippers: Global Daoism and the Predicament of Modern Spirituality
2017 | (co-authored with Elijah Siegler), University of Chicago Press, 326 pages.
Zhongguoren de zongjiao shenghuo
2014 | (中國人的宗教生活), HKU Press. [Chinese edition of Chinese Religious Life]
Daoism in the Twentieth Century: Between Eternity and Modernity
2012 | (co-edited with Liu Xun), University of California Press, 404 pages.
Chinese Religious Life
2012 | (co-edited with Glenn Shive and Philip Wickeri), Oxford University Press, 296 pages.
The Religious Question in Modern China
2011 | (co-authored with Vincent Goossaert), University of Chicago Press, 464 pages.
Qigong Fever: Body, Science, and Utopia in China
2007 | Columbia University Press, 320 pages.
Mengdao Huashan 《夢道華山：全球道教與現代靈性的困境》
2023 | HKU Press, Open Access. [Chinese edition of Dream Trippers: Global Daoism and the Predicament of Modern Spirituality]
La fièvre du “Qigong” Guérison, religion et politique en Chine, 1949-1999
2005 | Paris: Editions de l’EHESS, 512 pages. [French edition of Qigong Fever: Body, Science and Utopia in China]
Forthcoming Books
- 宗樹人 (David A. Palmer)、謝孟謙 (Martin Tse) 合著：《文武佛道：廣東省英德市黃花鎮溪村的醮儀文本匯編 》。台北：新文豐出版公司。[David A. Palmer and Martin M. H. Tse. Civil Buddhism, Martial Daoism: The Jiao Festivals of the Guangdong Village of Xicun]. Taipei: Shin Wen-feng Press. 350 pp. + 300 pp of ritual manuscript reproductions.
- 宗樹人 (David A. Palmer)、劉迅 (Liu Xun) 合編： 《二十世紀道教：永恆與現代之間》。台北：新文豐出版公司。 Chinese translation of Palmer & Liu eds., Daoism in the 20th Century: Between Eternity and Modernity (University of California Press, 2012). Taipei: Shin Wen-feng Press.
- Realism and Constructivism in Science, Religion and Society (with Mike Brownnutt). Book manuscript in editing stage.
Selected Recent and Forthcoming Articles and Book Chapters
Global China and BRI
- Religion, Infrastructure, and the Belt and Road. Special issue of Modern Asian Studies, in press (co-edited with Orlando Woods)
- The Sacred Dimensions of the BRI’s Infrastructural Commons (with Orlando Woods). Modern Asian Studies, forthcoming.
- Ritual, War, and Opium: Infrastructural Sedimentations in the Ethnohistory of the Mun (Lanten Yao) of Laos (with Joseba Estevez). Modern Asian Studies, in press.
- Chinese Green Finance and ESG in the Belt and Road Initiative (with Ziwei Fan and Chun Kai Leung) In Chris Coggins, Li Yifei, and Keigan eds., SAGE Handbook on China’s Environment, forthcoming.
- The BRI on Twitter: Social Ecologies and Echo Chamber Effects on Social Media (with Chun-yin Man and Junxi Qian), under review.
Civil Society and Development Studies
- Intimate Utopias: anti‑politics in Chinese civil society (with Rundong Ning). American Journal of Cultural Sociology. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41290-024-00220-0
- Warriors of the City State: Chin Wan, Chinese Religion, and Hong Kong Localism. Journal of Asian Studies 83:2 (2024): 347–359.
- “Ethics of the Heart: Moral Breakdown and the Aporia of Chinese Volunteers” (with Rundong Ning). Current Anthropology 61:4 (2020): 395-417.
- “Chinese NGOs at the Interface between Governmentality and Local Society: An Actor-Oriented Perspective” (with Qing Liu). China Information (2020), DOI: 10.1177/0920203X20942094
- “Black Bloc against Red China: Tears and Revenge in the Trenches of the New Cold War”. Hau: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 10:2 (2020).
- “Neo-Socialist Governmentality: Managing Freedom in the Peoples’ Republic of China” (with Fabian Winiger). Economy and Society 48:4 (2019), pp. 554-578
- “The Civil Sphere in the Cultural and Political Transformations of Modern East Asia”, in Jeffrey Alexander, David A. Palmer, Agnes Ku and Sunwoong Park (eds.), The Civil Sphere in East Asia. Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp. 1-17.
- “Three Moral Codes and Micro-Civil Spheres in China,” in Jeffrey Alexander, David A. Palmer, Agnes Ku and Sunwoong Park eds., The Civil Sphere in East Asia. Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp. 126-147.
Daoism and Chinese Religion
- The Globalization of Daoism (with Jiayue Sun). In James Miller and Robin Wang ed., Oxford Handbook of Daoism. Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
- Wen-wu : Opposition and Complementarity of Civil and Martial Dimensions in a Ritual Tradition in South China (with Martin Tse). In Georges Favraud ed., Culture martiale dans la religion chinoise : corps, rituel et société [Martial Culture in Chinese Religion : Body, Ritual and Society]. Paris : Editions de l’Inalco
- Ethnography and Manuscripts: New Approaches to the Study of Yao Religion, Studies in Chinese Religions 《華人宗教研究》 19 (2022) 1-11.
- 〈《老撾藍靛瑤文庫》：探討文本收集、編目、分類和評估的方法與相關問題〉[The Textual Corpus of the Lanten Yao of Laos: Methodological Issues in the Collection, Classification, Cataloguing and Evaluation of Manuscripts.] (with Guo Huiwen, Joseba Estevez et al.)《華人宗教研究 》Studies in Chinese Religions 19: 25-64.
- Isomorphic or poly-ontological pluralism? The implications of Chinese religion for covenantal pluralism. In Chris Seiple and Dennis Hoover eds, The Routledge Handbook of Religious Literacy, Pluralism, and Global Engagement, New York: Routledge, 2021, pp. 120-135.
- “Cosmology, Gender, Structure and Rhythm: Marcel Granet and Chinese Religion in the History of Social Theory.” Review of Religion and Chinese Society 6 (2019): 160-187. Chinese version: 〈葛兰言的中国文明研究对法国人类学理论的影响〉载梁永嘉主编：《人类学研究·第17辑》
- “Guanyin’s Limbo: Icons as Demi-Persons and Dividual Objects” (with Chip Colwell and Martin Tse). American Anthropologist. Published online first, 23 Aug. 2019.
- “Occulting the Dao: Daoist Inner Alchemy, French Spiritism and Vietnamese Colonial Modernity in Caodai Translingual Practice” (with Jeremy Jammes). Journal of Asian Studies 77:2 (2018), 405-428.
Baháʼí Faith
- “The Cosmopolitan Moment in Colonial Modernity: The Bahá’í Faith, Spiritual Networks and Universalist Movements in early Twentieth Century China” (with Zhaoyuan Wan). Modern Asian Studies. Published online first, 2019.
- Nurturing Inherent Nobility: Insights on Human Dignity from a Bahá’í Perspective (With Temily Tavangar). Religions 14:2 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020250
- The Bahá’í Faith and Covenantal Pluralism: Promoting Oneness, Respecting Difference (with Temily Tavangar) The Review of Faith & International Affairs, 19:2 (2021), 29-39.
- Toward an Expanded Conception of Power: Exploring the Concept of Moral Empowerment Emerging in the Field of Baháʼí-Inspired Education (with Victor Ali), in Simon Shui Man Kwan ed., Asian Spiritualities and Social Transformation, chap. 5. (2023), Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-2641-1_8.
- A Baháʼí Perspective on Conscious Capitalism: Working for Individual, Organizational, and Systemic Transformation (with Joseph McCormick) In Michel Dion & Moses Pava eds., Spirit of Conscious Capitalism : Contributions of World Religions and Spiritualities, chap. 17 (2023). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10204-2_17.
- Religion, Spiritual Principles and Civil Society, in Ben Schewel and Geoff Cameron eds., Religion and Public Discourse in an Age of Transition: Reflections on Baha’i Practice and Thought. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, pp. 37-69.
Research Projects
- Global China, Local Cultures: Chinese Modernity and Soft Power on the Belt and Road. PI, RGC Research Fellowship, 2021-2025.
- Infrastructures of Faith: Religious Mobilities on the Belt and Road. Project Coordinator, Hong Kong Collaborative Research Fund (CRF), 2019-2023.
- Rituals and Manuscripts of the Lanten Yao (Laos). PI, Hong Kong General Research Fund (GRF), 2021-2024.
- Religious Cosmopolitanism in China, 1895-1927. PI, Hong Kong General Research Fund (GRF), 2021-2024.
Knowledge Exchange Projects
- The Yao Dao Project: Ethnic Minority Heritage Preservation and Promotion in Laos. With Joseba Estevez, 2014-present. Impact case for the 2026 RAE, Sociology and Anthropology cost centre.
- A Values-Based Evaluation Framework for Humanitarian Education Programmes. Co-PI with Marie Harder (HKU Faculty of Social Sciences ExCEL3, Fudan University, Brighton University and a major social service agency in Hong Kong), 2017 – 2020.
Student Supervision at IHSS
- Rundong Ning, MPhil graduate, IHSS, 2015
- Lok Hang Fung, MPhil graduate, IHSS, 2021
- Zichan Qiu, MPhil graduate, IHSS, 2021
- Martin Tse, MPhil graduate, IHSS, 2022
- Jiayue Sun, MPhil graduate, IHSS, 2022
- Fabian Winiger, PhD graduate, IHSS, 2018
- Anna Iskra, PhD graduate, IHSS, 2020
- Yichen Rao, PhD graduate, IHSS, 2021
- Ziwei Fan, MPhil graduate, IHSS, 2025
- Yijun Gai, PhD student, IHSS, 2021 –
- Ye Hua, PhD student, IHSS, 2022 –
- Jiayue Sun, PhD student, IHSS, 2022 –
- Martin Tse, PhD student, IHSS, 2022 –
- Yang Wang, PhD student, IHSS, 2022 –
