Her research focuses on human rights, legal issues and protests, the role of the media in society, as well as cultural heritage issues. Major publications include Debating Human Rights in China: A Conceptual and Political History (Rowman and Littlefield, 2002), and co-edited books such as and The Chinese Human Rights Reader (M. E. Sharpe, 2001); Gender Equality, Citizenship and Human Rights: Controversies and Challenges in China and the Nordic Countries (Routledge 2010); and Making Law Work: Chinese Laws in Context (Cornell University Press 2011).