Yu-Lien Cheng

Yu-Lien Cheng is a PhD student in Sociology at the University of Southern California, focusing on the study of poverty governance and civil organizations. He investigates how democratic institutions and practices shape the distribution of social welfare, how inequalities arise within these processes, and how civil society might contest them. Building on a longstanding interest in class inequality and queer theory, his master’s thesis, “The Precarious Work and Intimacy of Taiwanese Young Gay Men,” received an Honorable Mention for the Best Student Paper Award from the Taiwanese Sociological Association in 2023. Yu-Lien’s current work involves conducting ethnographic fieldwork in Los Angeles to understand inequality and neoliberal governmentality in an era of delegated welfare provision.

• BS Nat’l. Taiwan Univ., 6/2019
• MS Nat’l. Taiwan Univ.