Dr Junxi Qian receives Area Prize

Dr Junxi Qian received this year’s Area Prize for his research paper published in the journal Area. Based at the University of Hong Kong, Dr Qian’s paper Dilemma of modernity: interrogating cross-border ethnic identities at China’s Southwest frontier argues for a more dynamic understanding of the relationship between border crossing and belonging.

The Area Editors, who award the Prize, said: “This paper on cross-border identities is beautifully illustrated with qualitative material taken from in-depth interviews and detailed work in border communities.”

Other papers that were highly commended by the Editors were: From heterogeneous worlds: western privilege, class and positionality in the South by Mark Griffiths from Northumbria University, UK and The humanitarian infrastructure and the question of over-research: reflections in fieldwork in the refugee crises in the Middle East and North Africa by Elisa Pascucci from the University of Tampere, Finland.

The Area Prize is part of Area’s mission to be accessible to new researchers including postgraduates and early career academics, and rewards excellence in geographical research. The recipient receives £500.