Timothy Hildebrandt

Timothy Hildebrandt is Associate Professor of Social Policy and Development. His teaching, at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels, focuses on social policy and development, non-governmental organisations, and sexuality.

Trained as a political scientist, Timothy’s current research program aims to better understand how social policies affect marginalised populations (such as LGBT people) and how social actors (such as NGOs) seek to rectify inequalities in policy processes and outcomes. Although internationally-recognised as a China expert, his recent research has been more comparative in nature, examining Southeast Asia, Subsaharan Africa, the UK, and the US. His research program is methodologically diverse, theoretically grounded, and empirically driven, motivated by and responsive to real world policy problems; he employs both qualitative and quantitative analysis in research that engages theories and debates in social and public policy, political science, communication, development, sexuality, and Asian studies.

Timothy's work has been published in a wide variety of journals including: BMJ Open, Journal of Civil Society, Journal of Homosexuality, Development and Change, Development Policy Review, Foreign Policy Analysis, Journal of Contemporary China, Review of International Studies, and The China Quarterly. His book, Social Organizations and the Authoritarian State in China was published by Cambridge University Press in 2013 (paperback in 2015). His work is widely covered in the news media around the world with interviews, op-eds and commentaries appearing in The Guardian, BBC, CNN, South China Morning Post, Chicago Tribune, and Christian Science Monitor.

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) University of Wisconsin-Madison (2004 — 2009)
• Inter-University Program Tsinghua University (2005 — 2005)
• Master of Arts (M.A.) University of Wisconsin-Madison (2004 — 2005)
• Bachelor of Arts (BA) St. Olaf College (1996 — 2000)
• School Year Abroad (1994 — 1995)
• High School Breck School (1991 — 1996)

Expertise Details

HIV/AIDS; LGBT; NGOs; Activism; Civil society; Development; Environment; Politics of China; Social entrepreneurship; Survey research; Public opinion

Research Summary

Dr Hildebrandt''s research focuses on NGO development in authoritarian polities, the links between activism and social entrepreneurship and the political economy of social exclusion. He also researches emerging LGBT rights and activism in the non-Western world, and the changing state–society relationship in China.

Dr Hildebrandt is the author of Social Organizations and the Authoritarian State in China and his research has appeared in numerous journals including The China Quarterly; Journal of Contemporary China; Review of International Studies and Foreign Policy Analysis.

Previously he was Lecturer in Chinese Politics at King''s College London (KCL), taught in the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California (USC) and was a fellow in the US–China Institute at USC, as well as the Center for Asian Democracy at the University of Louisville. He completed his PhD at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Selected publications

• Volunteerism and Democratic Learning in an Authoritarian State J Teets, R Hasmath, T Hildebrandt, C Hsu, JYJ Hsu Working Paper 2021
• Citizens’ Expectations for Crisis Management and the Involvement of Civil Society Organizations in China R Hasmath, T Hildebrandt, J Teets, JYJ Hsu, C Hsu Working Paper 2021
• Responsibilization and sexual stigma under austerity: Surveying public support for government-funded PrEP in England T Hildebrandt, L Bode, JSC Ng Sexuality Research and Social Policy 17 (4), 643-653 5 2020
• The Construction and Performance of Citizenship in Contemporary China C Hsu, J Teets, R Hasmath, JYJ Hsu, T Hildebrandt American Sociological Association Annual Meeting (San Francisco, USA) 1 2020
• Performance legitimacy and COVID-19: What are citizens’ expectations for crisis management in an authoritarian state R Hasmath, T Hildebrandt, JC Teets, JYJ Hsu, CL Hsu Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 4 2020
• In addition to the members of the Editorial Board and Executive Committee, The China Quarterly would like to thank the following people for providing invaluable assistance over … B Ahl, A Ahlers, S Angle, N Baranovitch, JP Béja, A Bellamy, I Bellér-Hann, ... The China Quarterly 240, 1185-1187 2019
• Effect of ‘lifestyle stigma’on public support for NHS-provisioned pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and preventative interventions for HPV and type 2 diabetes: a nationwide UK survey T Hildebrandt, L Bode, JSC Ng BMJ open 9 (8), e029747 5 2019
• Conceptualizing government-organized non-governmental organizations R Hasmath, T Hildebrandt, JYJ Hsu Journal of Civil Society 15 (3), 267-284 53 2019
• Conceptualizing government-organized non-governmental organizations R Hasmath, T Hildebrandt, JYJ Hsu Journal of Civil Society 15 (3), 267-284 63* 2019
• The one-child policy, elder care, and LGB Chinese: A social policy explanation for family pressure T Hildebrandt Journal of homosexuality 66 (5), 590-608 15 2019
• Eine Begriffsbestimmung für staatlich organisierte Nichtregierungsorganisationen (Conceptualizing Government-Organized Non-Governmental Organizations) R Hasmath, T Hildebrandt, JYJ Hsu Journal of Civil Society 15 (3), 267-284 2019
• Концептуализация правительски-организованных неправительственных организаций (Conceptualizing Government-Organized Non-Governmental Organizations) R Hasmath, T Hildebrandt, JYJ Hsu Journal of Civil Society 15 (3), 267-284 2019
• NGOs and the success paradox: Gay activism ‘after’HIV/AIDS in China T Hildebrandt The London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Social … 2 2018
• In addition to the members of the Editorial Board and Executive Committee, The China Quarterly would like to thank the following people for providing invaluable assistance over … A Ahlers, C Alden, P Alston, I Attané, E Blanchard, T Bodenhorn, ... The China Quarterly 236, 1249-1251 2018
• Queer Comrades: Gay Identity and Tongzhi Activism in Postsocialist China Hongwei Bao Copenhagen: NiAS Press, 2018 xii+ 265 pp.£ 22.50 ISBN 978-87-7694-236-6 T Hildebrandt The China Quarterly 236, 1230-1231 2018
• The next trans-atlantic frontier: examining the Impact of Language Choice on Support for Transgender Policies in the United Kingdom and the United States L Bode, T Hildebrandt Atlantic Journal of Communication 26 (4), 240-250 3 2018
• Negotiating in/visibility: The political economy of lesbian activism and rights advocacy T Hildebrandt, LJ Chua Development and Change 48 (4), 639-662 19 2017
• In addition to the members of the Editorial Board and Executive Committee, The China Quarterly would like to thank the following people for providing invaluable assistance over … A Ahlers, C Alden, R Ash, L Bai, R Barnett, J Barwick, T Bickford, M Birney, ... 2017
• The hidden public health costs of doing business in China T Hildebrandt The Lancet Infectious Diseases 16 (12), 1341 2016
• ‘Going out’or staying in? The expansion of Chinese NGOs in Africa JYJ Hsu, T Hildebrandt, R Hasmath Development Policy Review 34 (3), 423-439 41 2016