1. 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 1

2. Gender/feminist studies
Sociology
Generation
Gender/feminist studies 2

3. Feminism and Feminist Movement in China
Period
generation 3

4. 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

5. 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

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

7. 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

8. 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

9. Inheritance, connection and continuity in difference9
Feminist literature
Women’s Studies courses
Transnational feminist exchange through study abroad, exchange programs and conferences

10. 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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