Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung

Postdoctoral Fellow

DPhil (Oxon); LLM (LSE); LLB (CUHK)

Biography
Research
Supervision
Teaching

Alvin is a postdoctoral research fellow at the ANU College of Law. His research bridges law, technology, and societal values, with a focus on socio-legal and comparative perspectives in areas such as blockchain and AI. He explores how technology shapes diverse aspects of society, particularly in property, employment, and human relationships within organisations. He examines how regulatory dynamics of technologies differ across societies, and the ways in which they reflect or reinforce existing ideologies and power structures. Alvin’s interest also spans private law and the humanities, where he explores the socio-cultural side of law, especially in Asia-Pacific contexts, and the nuances of property law across different legal systems.

His research has been published in leading law and interdisciplinary journals, including Big Data & Society, Asian Journal of Comparative Law, International Journal of Law in Context, Chinese Journal of Comparative Law, Asian Journal of Law and Society, Work, Employment & Society, and Law and Humanities. He’s also contributed to several tech-focused law journals in the U.S.

Alvin holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford, an LLM from the London School of Economics, and an LLB from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Before entering academia, he practiced law as a solicitor in Hong Kong.

Appointments

Postdoctoral Fellow, ANU College of Law (Present)

Selected journal articles

Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, ‘Legal Consciousness and the Crypto Phenomenon: Property Ideologies, Innovation, and Potential Ramifications on Financial System Stability.’ (2024) International Journal of Law in Context.
Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, ‘Evolution of Intangible Property to Crypto-Assets: Legal Pragmatism in Anglo-American Common Law and Chinese Civil Law.’ (2024) 12 Chinese Journal of Comparative Law.
Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, ‘The Curious Case of Blockchain in Rural China: Unravelling Power, Profit, and Surveillance.’ (2024) Big Data and Society.
Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, ‘Cryptoasset Fraud: An Unknown Quantity?’ (2024) 8082 New Law Journal 15.
Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, ‘Examining the AI-Based Biometric Surveillance Data Collected by Employers: A Review Based on Federal and State Laws Protecting Employee Privacy Rights.’ (2023) 41 Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal 25.
Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, 'The Role of Boundary-Spanners in the Control of a Chinese Garment Factory in Myanmar.' (2023) 38(5) Work, Employment and Society 1333.
Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, 'Filial Piety across Legal Systems: Analyzing the Influence of Traditional Chinese Legal Culture of Property in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.' (2023) 18(2) Asian Journal of Comparative Law 137.
Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, 'Tortured between Two Hells: A Qualitative Analysis of the Collective Social Normalization of the Trafficking of Brides from Myanmar to China.' (2023) 9(3) Journal of Human Trafficking 363.
Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, 'How Has the Legal Consciousness of Chinese Enterprise Managers Transformed since 1949? A Study of Chinese Enterprises under Socialism.' (2022) 9 Asian Journal of Law and Society 286.
Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, ‘Did Exclusion Ignite China’s Drive to Compete in Space Station Technology? An Analysis of the Techno-Legal Implications of the Wolf Amendment (2011).’ (2022) 1 Journal of Law, Technology and Policy 119.
Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, 'Stones From Another Mountain: An Analysis of the Cinematic Significance of Hong Kong’s Storm Films in China’s Anticorruption Campaign.' (2021) 15 Law and Humanities 84.
Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, 'I'm Afraid: the Cultural Challenges of Conducting Ethnographic Fieldwork and Interviews in Myanmar.' (2021) 21(2) Qualitative Research Journal 113.

Book chapters

Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, ‘Blockchain and Humanity: Rethinking Techno-Libertarianism.’ in John Flood and Lachlan Robb (eds.), Blockchain Handbook on Law and Society (De Gruyter, 2025) (Upcoming).
Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, ‘Digital Assets from a Socio-Legal Perspective.’ in Jason Grant Allen, Simon Gleeson, and Peter Hunn (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Digital Assets and the Law (Oxford University Press, 2025) (Upcoming).
Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, ‘Ethnography’ in Jan Smits and Nuno Garoupa (eds.), Handbook on Research Methods in Labour Law (Edward Elgar, 2023).
Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, ‘Shaping Narratives of Anti-Corruption Through Popular Culture: An Analysis of the “Storm” Film Series.’ in Séagh Kehoe and Gerda Wielander (eds.), Cultural China 2021: The Contemporary China Centre Review (University of Westminster Press, 2022)

Work in progress

Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, ‘DAO as Rhizome: Reimagining Rules, Governance, and Organisations.’ Under review at Law and Critique.
Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung and Amelia Dale, ‘The Roots of Private Property: Native Vegetation Laws and Murder in The Winter Road.’ Under review at Law, Culture and the Humanities.

Conference papers & presentations

‘DAO as Rhizome: Reimagining Rules, Governance, and Organisations’ – Law Literature and Humanities Association of Australasia – Deus Ex Machina – Law – Technology – Humanities – Law Literature and Humanities Association of Australasia Conference 2023 – Queensland University of Technology, 11-14 December 2023
‘Adapting Traditional Chinese Legal Culture to Westernised Property Law: A Comparative Study of Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan’ – Asian Law Schools Association (ALSA) – Hong Kong Commercial and Maritime Law Centre (HKCML) Joint Conference – City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 13 January 2023
‘Decolonization Unfinished — A Critical Perspective on “Multiculturalism” in Hong Kong and Singapore’ - Law and Society Association Annual Meeting 2022 - Lisbon, Portugal, 13-16 July 2022
‘Boundary Spanners as Control Mechanism in the Multicultural Work Environment of Organisations’ - 2022 CERIC Doctoral Conference – University of Leeds, UK, 20 May 2022
‘See No Racism: A Critical Perspective on “Multiculturalism” in “Decolonised” Hong Kong and Singapore’ - Socio-Legal Studies Association Annual Conference 2022 – University of York, UK, 6 April - 8 April 2022
‘One City, Two Attitudes: Hong Kong’s Legal Mobilisation in Response to China's Influence’ - 15th Biennial Conference for Nordic Association for China Studies (NACS) & NIAS-Nordic Institute of Asian Studies 14th Annual Nordic NIAS Council Conference - University of Helsinki, Finland, 10-11 June 2021
‘Intercultural Conflicts in Foreign-Invested Factories: The Methodological and Cultural Challenges in Conducting Ethnographic Fieldwork in Myanmar’ – Reimagining Justice and Ethnography – 5th Annual Postgraduate Law Conference – University of Strathclyde, UK, 29-30 April 2021
‘Construing “Family Property“ in Westernised Property Law: Analysing the Influence of Traditional Chinese Legal Culture on Contemporary Chinese Courts’ – Socio-Legal Studies Association Annual Conference 2021 – Cardiff University, UK, 30 March - 1 April 2021
‘The Cultural Challenges in Conducting Ethnographic Fieldwork in Myanmar’ - PGR Socio-Legal Methodology Workshop – University of Birmingham, UK, 18 November 2020
‘Researching Intercultural Conflicts of Foreign Direct Investment: Methodology and Challenges’ - Empirical and Socio-Legal Methods Workshop – University of Oxford, UK, 10 May 2019
‘Managing Intercultural Conflicts with Key Stakeholders of Foreign Direct Investment: A Study from the Lens of Legal Culture of Chinese Private Enterprises in Myanmar’ – Research Symposium 2019 Oxford Hong Kong Scholars Association – University of Oxford, UK, 9 February 2019