Education

PhD 2002 (Anthropology of Religion), Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Sorbonne, Paris);

MPhil 1996 (Clinical Psychology/Medical Anthropology), University of Paris-VIII;

BA 1992 (Anthropology and East Asian Studies), McGill University.

Work Experience

The University of Hong Kong 

       Professor, Department of Sociology

Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient (French School of Asian Studies)

        Hong Kong Centre Director, 2004-2008. 

London School of Economics and Political Science

Eileen Barker Fellow, 2003-2004

Research Interests

Anthropology and Sociology of Spirituality and Religion

Daoism and Traditional Chinese Society

Volunteering, philanthropy, community engagement and development studies

Cultural and religious interactions on the Belt and Road

Anthropological Theory

Courses Taught

Spirituality, religion and social change (HKU)

Modern Theory and Sociological Analysis (HKU)

Modern social theory (HKU)

Selected Publications

Books

Palmer, David A. and Elijah Siegler. 2017. Dream Trippers: Global Daoism and the Predicament of Modern Spirituality. University of Chicago Press.

Palmer, David A. and Vincent Goossaert. 2011. The Religious Question in Modern China. University of Chicago Press.

Palmer, David A. 2007. Qigong Fever: Body, Science and Utopia in China. Columbia University Press. Paperback edition 2020.

Articles and book chapters

Palmer, David A., Ziwei Fan and Chun Kai Leung. 2026. “Chinese Green Finance and ESG in the Belt and Road Initiative.” In Chris Coggins, Li Yifei and Keigan eds., SAGE Handbook on China's Environment, pp. 545–563.

Palmer, David A. and Orlando Woods. 2024. “The Sacred Dimensions of the BRI’s Infrastructural Commons.” Modern Asian Studies, 58(5): 1259–1275. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X24000490.

Palmer, David A. and Joseba Estevez. 2024. “Ritual, War, and Opium: Infrastructural Sedimentations in the Ethnohistory of the Mun (Lanten Yao) of Laos.” Modern Asian Studies, 58(5): 1299–1341. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X24000222.

Palmer, David A. and Rundong Ning. 2024. “Intimate Utopias: anti-politics in Chinese civil society.” American Journal of Cultural Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41290-024-00220-0.

Palmer, David A. 2024. “Warriors of the City State: Chin Wan, Chinese Religion, and Hong Kong Localism.” Journal of Asian Studies, 83(2): 347–359.

Palmer, David A. and Rundong Ning. 2020. “Ethics of the Heart: Moral Breakdown and the Aporia of Chinese Volunteers.” Current Anthropology, 61(4): 395–417.

Palmer, David A. and Amrollah Hemmat. 2024. “The Three Purities and Three-Stage Ontologies: From Daoism to the Baháʼí Faith.” Religions, 17(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030379.

Palmer, David A. and Victor Ali. 2023. “Toward an Expanded Conception of Power: Exploring the Concept of Moral Empowerment Emerging in the Field of Baháʼí-Inspired Education.” In Simon Shui Man Kwan ed., Asian Spiritualities and Social Transformation, chap. 5. Springer Nature.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-2641-1_8.

Palmer, David A. and Joseph McCormick. 2023. “A Baháʼí Perspective on Conscious Capitalism: Working for Individual, Organizational, and Systemic Transformation.” In Michel Dion and Moses Pava eds., Spirit of Conscious Capitalism: Contributions of World Religions and Spiritualities, chap. 17. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10204-2_17.

Palmer, David A. 2023. “Religion, Spiritual Principles and Civil Society.” In Ben Schewel and Geoff Cameron eds., Religion and Public Discourse in an Age of Transition: Reflections on Baha'i Practice and Thought, pp. 37–69. Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

Palmer, David A. and Temily Tavangar. 2022. “Nurturing Inherent Nobility: Insights on Human Dignity from a Bahá’í Perspective.” Religions, 14(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020250.

Palmer, David A. 2022. “Ethnography and Manuscripts: New Approaches to the Study of Yao Religion.” Studies in Chinese Religions, 19: 1–11.

Palmer, David A. and Qing Liu. 2020. “Chinese NGOs at the Interface between Governmentality and Local Society: An Actor-Oriented Perspective.” China Information. https://doi.org/10.1177/0920203X20942094.

Palmer, David A. 2020. “Black Bloc against Red China: Tears and Revenge in the Trenches of the New Cold War.” Hau: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 10(2).

Palmer, David A. and Fabian Winiger. 2019. “Neo-Socialist Governmentality: Managing Freedom in the People’s Republic of China.” Economy and Society, 48(4): 554–578.

Palmer, David A., Jeffrey Alexander, Agnes Ku and Sunwoong Park. 2019. “The Civil Sphere in the Cultural and Political Transformations of Modern East Asia.” In The Civil Sphere in East Asia. Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–17.

Palmer, David A., Jeffrey Alexander, Agnes Ku and Sunwoong Park. 2019. “Three Moral Codes and Micro-Civil Spheres in China.” In The Civil Sphere in East Asia. Cambridge University Press, pp. 126–147.

Palmer, David A. 2021. “Isomorphic or poly-ontological pluralism? The implications of Chinese religion for covenantal pluralism.” In Chris Seiple and Dennis Hoover eds., The Routledge Handbook of Religious Literacy, Pluralism, and Global Engagement, pp. 120–135.

Palmer, David A. and Temily Tavangar. 2021. “The Bahá’í Faith and Covenantal Pluralism: Promoting Oneness, Respecting Difference.” The Review of Faith & International Affairs, 19(2): 29–39.