Carwyn Morris

Carwyn Morris is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Society and Geography in the Department of Media Studies and a Research Fellow at the SOAS China Institute. 

Carwyn's research focuses on the impact China has on digital societies, and he is interested in wanghong (网红; internet fame), digital territory, the cultural industries, digital activism, and the impact of Chinese social media around the world.

Carwyn graduated with a PhD in Human Geography and Urban Studies from the LSE. Prior to working at SOAS he was a University Lecturer of Digital China at Leiden University and a Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Manchester. Carwyn previously worked as a brand strategist and he remains active in the world of fashion through an on-going collaboration with the brand, seventyfive. 

Carwyn has conducted research in China, the UK, France, Germany, and Greece. Carwyn’s PhD fieldwork was conducted in Beijing, with a focus on the Tiantongyuan area of Beijing. His research tracking food cultures, migrant displacement, and anti-eviction activism took him across Beijing and into neighbouring Hebei. During his PhD, Carwyn also conducted research in Yunnan and the Wa State (Myanmar). Carwyn’s research is also focused on digital environments and digital fieldwork, and he has conducted research on Weibo, Weixin (WeChat), Douyin, Kuaishou, Bilibili, Douban, Telegram, Signal, Instagram, and Xiaohongshu. 

Following his PhD, Carwyn focused his research activities on the influence of Chinese capital and technologies outside of China. In doing this he has been conducting research in Düsseldorf, Paris, and Athens. This research is conducted both online and offline, with Xiaohongshu and Instagram the main online sites. Carwyn’s research has been supported by the Economic and Social Research Council, Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, the British Academy, and the European Research Council. Carwyn is the Co-I on the British Academy grant, Chinese Global Orders. He is the PI on the ERC Starting Grant, CHINA.EU.

Carwyn's research focuses on the relationship between digital technologies, social media, and space, with a focus on the city, territory, the instant messaging group, and social media. His PhD fieldwork was conducted in Beijing, and it examined how two groups—food stall and restaurant owners and anti-eviction activists—made use of digital technologies, instant messaging, and social media to resist various forms of governance. From these experiences Carwyn began to develop understandings of digital territory based on the experience of internet users in China. 

More recently, Carwyn began to explore the relationship between wanghong (网红 internet fame) and the city, co-authoring articles on wanghong urbanism that examined wanghong phenomena in Europe, North America, and China. Carwyn has also been paying attention to the topic of global China and has attempted to understand how Chinese social media, such as Xiaohongshu, influences Chinese investment and consumption outside of China. 

Research projects 

Carwyn is currently the Principal Investigator of the European Research Council Starting Grant, CHINA.EU. The project, active for 5 years from July 2026, examines the role of Chinese capital in Europe's cultural industries, the way in which the cultural industries impact urban spaces, and the role that Chinese social media and digital technology play in the cultural industries. 

To examine these issues the project is conducting research in three regions: the Paris metro region, Düsseldorf and North-Rhine Westphalia, and the Greater Athens region. The project focuses on the fashion industry, the tourism industry, the food and beverage industry, Chinese multi-nationals, and golden-visa schemes. Within the project there is a particular emphasis on the Chinese social media application Xiaohongshu and how it influences investment and consumption across Europe.