COM Research Seminar: How the COVID-19 Outbreak in China Spiraled Out of Control: Agency, Cognition, and the Politics of Information by Prof Dali YANG
20 Nov 2024 (Wed)
On November 20, 2024, Professor Dali Yang, a noted scholar from the University of Chicago, presented a seminar titled “How the COVID-19 Outbreak in China Spiraled Out of Control: Agency, Cognition, and the Politics of Information.” Prof. Yang, who has authored several influential books on China's political economy and governance, delved into the critical early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan.
In his talk, Prof. Yang scrutinized the Chinese government's emergency response, focusing on the management of epidemic information and the critical decision-making that impacted the outbreak's scale and trajectory. His research highlighted that China had a significant early advantage with a proactive health emergency action in late December 2019. However, Prof. Yang pointed out, bureaucratic and political impediments to information flow and sharing, along with limited understanding of the virus’s contagious nature, undermined effective containment strategies. His analysis provided a granular look into the cognitive and organizational challenges that allowed the virus to spread unchecked. The seminar attracted approximately 30 participants, including faculty members, Ph.D. students, and scholars from diverse disciplines.
