Victoria Hui

Victoria Tin-bor Hui is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. She journeyed from being a first-generation college student studying Journalism at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, through an exchange program at Georgetown University, to earning her Ph.D. in Political Science at Columbia University, before ultimately joining Notre Dame.

Professor Hui's first research paradigm examines the impact of violence on the historical evolution of "China." Her War and State Formation in Ancient China and Early Modern Europe (Cambridge University Press, 2005) challenges conventional Chinese wisdom by arguing that the unification of the Warring States was not a natural progression but a result of domination strategies. This vibrant multistate system allowed for state-society bargains in China to emerge earlier than in Europe. She has also published various articles and chapters on Chinese politics and international relations, including "Getting Asia Right: De-essentializing China’s Hegemony in Historical Asia," “Toward a Dynamic Theory of International Politics,” “How Tilly’s Warfare Paradigm Is Revolutionizing the Study of Chinese State-Making” and “Cultural Diversity and Coercive Cultural Homogenization in Chinese History."

Beyond historical research, Professor Hui analyzes the dynamics of resistance and repression in global struggles for freedom, particularly in Hong Kong. Between college and graduate school, she worked in the city’s pro-democracy movement. Since the Umbrella Movement in 2014, she has become a scholar-activist, writing extensively on protest and repression, testifying before Congress, and providing commentary in international media. Her writings include "Crackdown: Hong Kong Faces Tiananmen 2.0." "The Bad Birth and Premature Death of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ in Hong Kong," and "Hong Kong's New Police State."

Professor Hui's contributions extend beyond academia; she co-founded the Hong Kong Democracy Council to advocate for Hongkongers in the US and served as a fellow with the Congressional-Executive Commission on China supported by the Council on Foreign Relations in 2021-22.

In her teaching, Professor Hui seeks to promote China literacy among future American leaders, encouraging critical thinking about the unintended and counterproductive consequences of human actions, both state policies and bottom-up activism.