Dr. Jacob Reidhead

Assistant Professor
National Chengchi University

reidhead@g.nccu.edu.tw

12F, North Wing, General Building of Colleges
No. 64, Sec.2, Zhi-Nan Rd. Wenshan District, Taipei City 11605 Taiwan

Positions

Assistant Professor
National Chengchi University (2023-present)

Assistant Professor
KIMEP University (2022-2023)

Post-Doctoral Researcher
Taiwan MOFA Fellowship (2021)

Education

PhD Sociology
Stanford University (2020)

MA Sociology
University of Washington (2012)

MS Statistics
The Ohio State University (2008)

MSE Information Security
Korea University (2006)

BS Mathematics
Arizona State University (2005)

Download CV

I am a sociologist specializing in the politics of East and Central Asia. My research agenda, Organization of Power, investigates the social structures underlying the exercise of power and interrogates prevailing individualist and institutionalist theories of power.

I obtained my PhD in sociology from Stanford University in 2020. Before beginning my PhD, I was a data analyst for a Honolulu-based analytics consulting firm, SMS Research and a program officer for the non-profit, Mercy Corps. My predoctoral training also includes a B.S. in mathematics from Arizona State University, an MSE in information security from Korea University, an M.S. in statistics from the Ohio State University, and an M.A. in sociology from the University of Washington.

I currently work as an assistant professor of Asian Studies at National Chengchi University in Taipei. At NCCU I hold a tenure-track position in the College of Social Sciences where I am affiliated with the International Doctoral Program in Asia-Pacific Studies (IDAS). Prior to my current position, I was an assistant professor of social science at KIMEP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

I was raised in Tempe, Arizona and consider myself a native Arizonan. I came of age in South Korea and have spent much of my adult life in Seoul. In 2008 and 2009, I spent six months in North Korea monitoring a USAID food program. Over the years I have lived in Almaty, Chengdu, Columbus, Heber, Honolulu, Kaohsiung, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Seoul, Sinuiju, Taipei and Tempe. I speak fluent Korean, conversational Chinese, and have recently embarked on Russian.

My research explores power from a structural perspective, in the specific place and time of contemporary Asia. But beyond the here and now, what did power relations look like throughout human history, and what might social power entail in the years to come, as humans reach for the stars? For speculative glimpses into our plausible pasts and futures, I turn to science fiction, historical fiction, noir, Russian and East Asian literature, comic books, video games and the newly emerging field of astrosociology. I appreciate the affinities between the world-building of genre fiction and structural analysis in the social sciences.

Published or Under Review

Navigating bilingualization: Challenges and adaptation of Vietnamese master’s students in English-medium instruction under Taiwan’s Bilingual 2030 policy (2026)

Abstract

Purpose – This study investigates the challenges faced by Vietnamese master’s students enrolled in bilingual and English-Medium Instruction (EMI) programs in Taiwan. It examines how institutional, linguistic, cultural, financial, and health-related factors shape their academic and social adaptation within the bilingualization framework of Taiwan’s Bilingual 2030 Policy (BN2030). By doing so, it highlights implementation gaps and the sociolinguistic tensions embedded in Taiwan’s push for bilingual higher education.

Introducing Career Transition Data on Elites in North Korea. Journal of East Asian Studies (2025)

Abstract

We introduce a novel dataset mapping career transitions of 505 elites in North Korea. Despite ample attention to granular data on elites, there is a lack of comprehensive information spanning state, party, military, and parastatal sectors. Granular rank and position data enable tracing intra- and inter-institutional elite transitions, opening new research avenues on North Korean elite studies and leader-elite dynamics in personalist autocracies. Exploiting within-regime threat-level variation during successions, we test hypotheses on dictators’ use of intra- versus inter-institutional elite management. We conclude with implications for new research directions in North Korean studies and authoritarianism literature.

Decamping the Partisans: US Hegemony and South Korea’s Divisive Discourse on North Korean Human Rights. Korean Studies (2023)

Abstract

The question of what to do about North Korean human rights (NKHR) has never been more divisive. Some have explained the division in terms of prioritizing certain rights or movement strategies over others. In this paper, I demonstrate that neither of these explanations is consistent with the last three decades of South Korean public discourse on NKHR. Applying a novel combination of semantic network and discourse analysis on 28,795 South Korean newspaper articles between 1990 and 2016, I arrive at the following argument. The division between NKHR partisans in South Korea is not based on particular stances towards human rights but rather support or opposition to US hegemony and intervention on the Korean peninsula.

Social Trust. In The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (2022)

Abstract

This handbook advances the interdisciplinary field of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics by identifying thirty-five topics of ongoing research. Instead of focusing on historically significant texts, it features experts talking about current debates. Individually, each chapter provides a resource for new research. Together, the chapters provide a thorough introduction to contemporary work in PPE, which makes it an ideal reader for a senior-year course. The handbook is organized into seven parts, each with its own introduction and five chapters: I.Frameworks II.Decision-Making III.Social Structures IV.Markets V.Economic Systems VI.Distributive Justice VII.Democracy The “Frameworks” part discusses common tools and perspectives in PPE, and the “Decision-making” section shows different approaches to the study of choice. From there, parts on “Social Structures,” Markets” and “Economic Systems” each use tools from the three PPE disciplines to study and distinguish parts of society. The next part explains dominant theories and challenges to the paradigm of “Distributive Justice.” Finally, a part on “Democracy” offers five challenges to current democratic practice.

Nomination patronage and party splitting: Comparing intraparty politics in South Korea and Taiwan. PhD Dissertation (2020)

Abstract

The political party is a central feature of representative democracy. In the post-War and Third Wave democracies of East Asia, durable political parties have contributed to national development and democratic consolidation. In this context, the transience of South Korean political parties is an anomaly. While no new, major parties have been created in Japan or Taiwan since the 1990s, more than ten major parties have been created or reorganized in South Korea during this thirty year period. Explaining this variation in party stability is critical for advancing democracy in South Korea and understanding democracy in East Asia.

In Progress