History from Below: Harvard’s Michael Szonyi on Fieldwork, History, and U.S.-China Relations

About this episode

Scott Kennedy interviews historian Michael Szonyi about the importance of fieldwork in understanding U.S.-China relations and social history.

In this episode of China Field Notes, Scott Kennedy speaks with historian Michael Szonyi about why fieldwork matters to social historians and trends in U.S.-China relations. Szonyi unpacks the concept of “history from below” and how doing fieldwork in localities helps social historians understand history from the perspective of everyday people, their practices, and community dynamics that are less visible when looking through the lens of the country’s leaders or international politics. Drawing on years of research in places such as Quemoy and Yongtai (Fujian), he describes how local records, such as land deeds and genealogies, complicate familiar national narratives and reveal how ordinary communities experienced major political and geopolitical shifts. Kennedy and Szonyi conclude by discussing the role of historians as public intellectuals, the risks of scholarly decoupling, and why first-hand knowledge of China remains essential for navigating the future of U.S.-China relations. Michael Szonyi is Frank Wen-hsiung Wu Professor of Chinese History and former Director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University. A social historian of late imperial and modern…

People in this episode

Host: Scott Kennedy

Guest: Michael Szonyi

Topics covered

• fieldwork
• U.S.-China relations
• social history
• public intellectuals
• local records

Keywords

• fieldwork
• history from below
• U.S.-China relations
• social historians
• local records

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Harvard University

Books & works: The Art of Being Governed: Everyday Politics in Late Imperial China, Cold War Island: Quemoy on the Front Line, The China Questions 2: Critical Insights into US-China Relations

Places: Quemoy, Yongtai, China, United States

More episodes of China Field Notes – with Scott Kennedy

• China’s Economic Progress and Challenges: A Conversation with Leading Chinese Economist Yao Yang · November 25, 2025 · 50 min
• The Enduring Value of Studying in China: A Conversation with the HNC’s Adam Webb. · November 12, 2025 · 33 min
• Crossing Worlds: Han Shen Lin on Leadership, Finance, and U.S.-China Relations · October 22, 2025 · 34 min
• Field Research and Governance in Xi’s China: Reflections from Middlebury’s Jessica Teets · October 8, 2025 · 1h 1m
• Innovation and Involution: A Conversation with CSIS’s Scott Kennedy · September 24, 2025 · 41 min
• Reporting on China’s Age of Uncertainty: A Conversation with CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng · September 9, 2025 · 51 min