Ya-Wen Lei

Harvard University Press, Harvard University

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Total Citations

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About

Ya-Wen Lei is a sociologist whose research sits at the intersection of technology, labor, and political economy, with a particular focus on how artificial intelligence and automation are reshaping work and society. Her most influential contribution, "Automation and Augmentation: Artificial Intelligence, Robots, and Work" (2024), has already garnered 38 citations and offers a comprehensive interdisciplinary review of how robots and AI are transforming labor markets — examining both the displacement effects on workers and the augmentation possibilities these technologies present. This work has established her as a thoughtful synthesizer of a rapidly evolving field. Lei's scholarship extends beyond abstract theorizing into grounded empirical contexts. Her research on China's techno-developmental state, accumulating over 25 citations across related publications, investigates how local governments, electronics manufacturers, and low-skilled workers navigate automation within China's unique political-economic framework. By tracing the decisions and pressures shaping industrial upgrading since the early 2010s, she illuminates the human and institutional dimensions behind headline narratives of technological progress. Lei's work is particularly valuable for students and researchers seeking nuanced, sociologically grounded perspectives on one of the defining challenges of our era: what automation means for workers and the states that govern them.