Two Generations of Feminist Activism in Post-socialist China: Counting and Understanding the Differences Qi Wang Department of Design and Communication University of Southern Denmark Email: qi.wang@sdu.dk 1

Gender/feminist studies Sociology Generation Gender/feminist studies 2

Feminism and Feminist Movement in China Period generation 3

Incorporating a ‘generation’ lens This paper Incorporating a ‘generation’ lens to examine/understand the trajectory of feminist activism from mid-1980s up to now Investigating how a ‘generation’ lens can help us to count feminist intergenerational differences and understand the dynamics of feminist evolution through temporality 4

primarily as the result of biological constraints Generation A genealogy primarily as the result of biological constraints A historical construct transcending the biological chronology of life from birth to death 5

Political opportunities The Women’s Studies generation Coming-of-age Political opportunities The street-action generation 6

Coming-of-age old new Grew up during the CR One-child generation Personal experience of women’s liberation College and academia after the CR Job security and academic freedom Benefited from the pro-women ideology and social policies in times of class discrimination And the rehabilitation of their class status in times of emerging gender discrimination One-child generation Good education Pervasive gender discrimination and violence Personal experience of discrimination and violence Angry Bitter Confrontational 7

Political opportunities old new The need for alternative theories on women ‘Thought liberation’ climate CCP’s tolerance Cooperation with the WF Alliance with male intellectuals Theory-building Legitimacy space Remote from socialism and state feminism Tense relationship with the authority Tightening of control/’stability maintenance’ Academic feminism as elitist, top-down and cautious Political risks for large-scale protests Deinstitutionalized strategies The capacity of individuals Media technology 7

Inheritance, connection and continuity in difference 9 Feminist literature Women’s Studies courses Transnational feminist exchange through study abroad, exchange programs and conferences

Methodological challenges Generation as a grand aggregate category How to empirically define a generation cohort and cut How to count diversity and heterogeneousness within a generation cohort 10

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