Interacting with the State: The Success and Vulnerability of the Feminist Movement in China

Abstract

Although social movements generally face suppression in non-democratic states, the dynamics of the feminist movement in China demonstrate how civil society groups may develop in an authoritarian state by utilizing the government’s agenda for their own goals. In the 1990s and 2000s, Chinese feminists seized opportunities to receive foreign funds, establish organizations, and develop a variety of programs on issues such as domestic violence and marginalized women’s empowerment. Activists’ aims dovetailed with the government’s goal of integrating into the international community. Nevertheless, the success of this tactic does not eliminate the vulnerability of movements when the state decides to reverse its tolerance of civil society groups.