Politics at the Local-Global Intersection: Meanings of Bentuhua and Transnational Feminism in China
Persistent URL
Author(s)
Wesoky, Sharon R.
Date Issued
February 8, 2016
Abstract
This article examines contemporary Chinese feminism’s processes of “connecting with the international tracks” as well as bentuhua (indigenisation), arguing that these processes are inseparable from both domestic and international power relations and thus asserting the need for a critical perspective on bentuhua. An “institutionaldiscursive” focus on both political and cultural contexts reveals that the usage of bentuhua can be literally and metaphorically spatial in quality, as well as regarded as a resource that is part of the grammar of social transformation in China. Neoliberal globalisation promotes a “project”-oriented approach to feminist activism that has benefits and costs. Transnationalism can be a source of resistance to the continued authoritarian party-state, as well as to homogenising effects of nationalist tendencies. Thus, from a theoretical standpoint it is useful to comprehend contemporary Chinese feminist thought from the understanding that the local and the global are inextricably interconnected.
Journal
Asian Studies Review
Department
Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies
Citation
Wesoky, S.R. (2016). Politics at the local-global intersection: Meanings of Bentuhua and transnational feminism in China. Asian Studies Review 40(1), 53-69. doi: 10.1080/10357823.2015.1123217
Publisher
Asian Studies Association of Australia
Version of Article
Published article
Embargo
This version of the article is available for viewing to the public after August 2, 2017.
DOI
10.1080/10357823.2015.1123217
ISSN
1035-7823
Rights
18 Month Embargo.
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Wesoky_2016_Asian Studies Review_Politics at the Local Global Intersection.pdf
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Format
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