I am a political sociologist in training, with research interests at the intersection of social movements in authoritarian contexts and social network formation.
(1) My current project, The Platform of Contention, investigates collective action among gig workers in China through a mixed-methods approach. Treating gig worker strikes in China as deviant cases that challenge prevailing theoretical expectations, I examine the conditions under which platform algorithms inadvertently facilitate strike mobilizations. I also explore how the gamification of work, designed to discipline labor, can instead give rise to a new kind of bargaining power that allows gig workers to exert leverage. The project has so far resulted in two twin papers (and more to come):

David Su. (2025). “Gaming the Algorithm: Tactical Innovation and Collective Resistance in China’s Platform Economy.” Under Review.
• Winner, 2026 Thompson Graduate Student Paper Award, ASA’s Organization, Occupation, and Work (OOW) Section.
• Winner, 2026 Mayer N Zald Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Student Paper Award, ASA’s Collective Behavior and Social Movement (CBSM) Section.
• 2026 Herbert Blumer Prize, Best Graduate Student Paper Award, Department of Sociology, UC Berkeley.
[You can find access to the draft below]

David Su. (2025). “The Platforms of Contention: Algorithmic Organization of Work and Gig Worker Strikes in Post-Pandemic China.” In progress, presented at ASA 2025, Future of Work panel.
• The Dr. C.F Koo and Cecilia Koo Chair Fellowship for Outstanding Graduate Students, Institute of East Asian Studies, UC Berkeley.

(2) My previous research employs computational methods to analyze social networks and the dynamics of embedded inequality. My previous project, Cov-Netps (inspired by the UC Nets project), examined population health in Wuhan, China, during and after the lockdown. This work revealed how the pandemic deepened health inequalities in a unique and extreme setting—where disparities in resources and connections could become, quite literally, a matter of life and death.

(3) I am exploring a new study reexamining the history of Chinese migration in the States and their contentious performance, 1880s - 1940s, which has been previously overlooked in the literature.

To sign up for my office hours, go to https://sociology.berkeley.edu/resources/gsi-office-hours.