Kening Wang

// DISSERTATION PROJECT
 

Title: The Politics of Natural Resource Extractivism and Social Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract: Natural resource extractivism, characterised by the large-scale extraction and export of primary commodities, remains a dominant yet politically contentious development model in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). While generating significant fiscal revenues, extractivism is marked by entrenched power imbalances, enclave economies, and rentier dynamics that often perpetuate inequality and erode institutional capacity. Following Comparative Social Policy (CSP) scholarship, my research aims to examine how the politics of extractivism—the appropriation and (re-)distribution of resource revenues—interact with colonial legacies, state capacity, and political conditions to influence the funding, design, and output of social policies. Using cross-national analysis and case studies, I aim to understand how postcolonial SSA states navigate domestic and transnational pressures to convert resource wealth into inclusive social protection.

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// ACADEMIC BACKGROUND 
 

2022 – 2024
Master of Social Science in Comparative Social Policy and Welfare (COSOPO), Tampere University in Finland & Johannes Kepler University Linz
Thesis: “The Politics of Palestinian Worker in the International Labour Conference, 1978-2024”

2021 – 2022
Master studies in Charles University in Prague

2017 – 2021
Bachelor of Management Studies, major in Labour and Social Security, Northwest University in China

Awards / Academic Achievements and Scholarships

Since 2025
DAAD-GSSP Scholarship, BAGSS

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// EXPERIENCE
 

2024
Research Assistant in the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Bonn