Kai Yui Samuel Chan

I am a political theorist who attends to transnational relationships, especially those of diasporas and of political peoples that traverse state boundaries. My research encompasses themes of self-determination, democratic governance, membership regimes, and territorial practices.

My book project, Entangled Peoplehood, updates our understanding of peoplehood and self-determination. In it, I develop the conception of "entanglement" by drawing on the legal histories of colonized, indigenous, and exiled peoples. In doing so, the project challenges our understanding of peoples as self-constituted collectives and argues for a more relational approach to self-determination, with specific focus on questions of citizenship and territory.

My academic work has been published in journals such as American Journal of Political Science, Contemporary Political Theory, European Journal of Political Theory, and Political Studies. Prior to Occidental, I was a Lecturer in Social Studies at Harvard University. I hold a PhD in Political Science at UC Berkeley and a MSc in Political Theory at London School of Economics.

You can find my public-facing engagement on avenues including NPR, The Diplomat, Lausan, Ming Pao, Stand News, and the For Example Podcast (which I co-host).