Women's Organizations in China : from Affiliation to Autonomy

Sammanfattning: China has stepped into a new phase of women's movement with the evolution of women's organizing context. Women's organizations and activities in China have been mostly state-led., focusing on monolithic womanhood and socialist feminism. Since the mid 1980s, self-initiated women's organizations have developed to promote gender equality landscape, responding to various female identities, interests and social needs. These emerging autonomous organizations make their debut as active women's participation in public domain. The thesis studies how the autonomous women's organizations have been set up, interact with state and market forces, and how they strategize for gender agendas and equality. The opportunities and challenges faced by collective feminist agencies demonstrate the altering potential for gender relations in China. The study is based on literature review and the interviews made on two forms of women's organizations; the autonomous women's groups and state-affiliated All-China Women's Federation (ACWF). Feminists and women activists usually position autonomous and affiliated women's organizations in adversarial stances, yet the thesis elaborates that, under contemporary Chinese social context, another symbiotic relations between the both exists. Some recommendations for empowering the autonomous women's organizations are proposed. These recommendations consist of improving organizational representatives for women, extending constructive influence to the policy-makers, and creating the enabling environment for gender equality.