Lily Cho

My research focuses on diasporic subjectivity within the fields of cultural studies, postcolonial literature and theory, and Asian North American and Canadian literature. I have recently co-edited Human Rights and the Arts: Perspectives on Global Asia with Susan Henders (York, Political Science). This book rethinks the contexts and subjects of human rights by taking its lead from writers, artists, filmmakers, and dramatists in Asia and the Asian diaspora. My book, Eating Chinese: Culture on the Menu in Small Town Canada, examines the relationship between Chinese restaurants and Canadian culture. I am currently conducting research on a set of Chinese Canadian head tax certificates known as "C.I. 9's." These certificates mark one of the first uses of identification photography in Canada. Drawing from this archive, my research explores the relationship between citizenship, photography, and anticipation as a mode of agency. For more information on this project, please see: https://masscapture.ca.

Representative publications:

“Mass Capture: the making of non-citizens and the Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macau Residents.” Mobilities, Special issue: Migration Infrastructures and the Constitution of (Im)mobilities, 12.2 (2017): 188-98.

Human Rights and the Arts: Essays on Global Asia. Co-edited with Susan Henders. Published in the book series Global Encounters: Studies in Comparative Political Theory. Lexington: Rowan and Littlefield, 2014.

“The Passport: the Politics of Place of Birth.” Handbook of Mobilities. Eds. Peter Adey, David Bissell, Kevin Hannam, Peter Merriman and Mimi Sheller. London: Routledge, 2014. 335-344.

"Anticipating Citizenship: Chinese Head Tax Photographs." Feeling Photography. Eds. Elspeth Brown & Thy Phu. Durham: Duke UP, 2014. 159-180.

Eating Chinese: Culture on the Menu in Small Town Canada. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2010.