Dr Tian Ma

Dr. Tian Ma completed her dual PhD in Cultural and Global Criminology at the University of Kent and Utrecht University. She brings extensive research expertise in migration and crime, and her monograph, Contesting Crimmigration in Post-Hukou China, was awarded the Asian Criminological Society's Distinguished Book Prize in 2023.

Since 2018, Dr. Ma has been actively involved in supporting and advocating for modern slavery survivors. She has shared her expertise widely, contributing to national and international media discussions on the topic, including appearances on Sky News, Euronews, and in publications such as The Guardian and The Straits Times.

Dr. Ma is also engaged in decolonizing knowledge initiatives at DMU and across other UK academic institutions. She aims to produce indigenous knowledge that challenges dominant narratives, contributing to a new global framework for criminological studies.

Tian is happy to supervise PhD students in her areas of interest.

Associate member of Institute for Research in Social Sciences

- Ma, T. (furthercoming in 2024). Crimmigration and re-bordering in post-hukou China in border criminologies from the periphery: cross-national conversations on bordered penalty. Routledge.

- Ma, T. (2023). Review of Borge Bakken, Crime and Control in China: the myth of harmony. International Criminology. 4.

- Ma, T. (2022). Contesting crimmigration in post-hukou China. Springer Nature. Winner of the Asian Criminological Society Distinguished Book Prize 2023

- Ma, T. (2019). The surveillance myth: (in)securitization of migration in post-hukou China In new perspectives in post-traditional policing studies. Eleven.

- Ma, T. (2017). Migrants, mass arrest, and resistance in contemporary China. Made in China Quarterly, 2(4), 12-15.

- Ma, T. (2016). Women for wives: sex trafficking in China. Newsletter of the Centre for Information and Research on Organized Crime, 3, 3-4.

Tian’s main research interests centre around issues of migration and crime with a particular focus on crimmigration on the one hand and border criminology on the other. 

Tian is the module leader for the second-year core module Communities of Justice. She also leads the COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) project on Punishment and Society, enabling Criminology and Criminology with Psychology students to engage in collaborative learning with peers from California State University, Chico.

PhD, Diploma in Public Service Interpreting (DPSI, English Law), MA in Criminology, BA in Law

Distinguished Book Award, Asian Criminological Society      2023

Erasmus Mundus Doctoral Scholarship EUR 167, 000, European Commission, 2014