Feminist Activism in Post-2010s China: Identifying Issues, Sharing Knowledge, Building Movements

Bringing together scholars and scholar-activists from a wide range of disciplines, this groundbreaking book delves into the diversity and vibrancy of feminist activism in Xi-era China.

Feminist Activism in the Post-2010s Sinosphere examines a variety of urgent feminist issues in 21st-century China, including the #MeToo movement, online misogyny, feminism in popular media, and the experiences and rights of queer, trans and ethnic minority groups. The chapters explore shifting dynamics between state feminism, NGO and grassroots movements, the intersection of academia and intellectual discourse, the interplay of art and activism, the increasing reliance on digital media platforms, and the evolving (re)formations of transnational and diasporic alliances, alongside their creative strategic practices.
Drawing on timely research and situated knowledges, the contributors offer innovative and provocative perspectives, supported by nuanced conceptual frameworks and rich empirical data. What are the specific characteristics of feminist activism grounded in the Sinosphere and Chinese contexts today? How is violence analyzed through an intersectional lens, and how do feminist engagements respond to precarity in the context of a pandemic and authoritarian governance?
This anthology is an insightful and stimulating read for anyone interested in intersectional feminist mobilizations, contemporary Sinophone and Chinese society and politics, and LGBTQ+ studies.

Elisabeth L. Engebretsen is Professor at the Centre for Gender Studies, University of Stavanger, Norway. Engebretsen is the author of Queer women in urban China: An ethnography (2014) and co-editor of Queer/Tongzhi China: New perspectives on research, activism and media cultures (2015).

Jinyan Zeng is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Lund University, Sweden. She is the author of Feminism and Genesis of the Citizen Intelligentsia in China (2016).