Creating policy change and new gender dynamics in China: situating lala activists’ politics of assimilation in the Chinese anti-domestic violence movement

Abstract

ABSTRACT The assimilationist approach has been used controversially by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) activists to engage the state for legal reform in Europe and the United States (US). Drawing insight from the concept of situated knowledges, this article explores the historical and political particularities that enabled lala (queer women) activists to adopt a politics of assimilation in the Chinese anti-domestic violence movement. It unravels the specific features of their assimilation to effect policy change and their entanglements with feminists. Through participant observation and in-depth interviews, the article first delineates the contours of lala activists’ struggle and traces their strategic choice of assimilation in the Chinese context from the 1990s to the 2000s. Second, the article elaborates on two aspects of lala activists’ assimilation: establishing an ambiguous position toward institutions and orienting activism toward indirect legal provisions. Third, the article illuminates how lala activists created new gender dynamics through this politics and developed their own strand of lesbian–feminist cooperation characterized by restricted visibility in the mainstream women’s movement and an open coalition with different feminists. I also discuss the limitations of lala activists’ politics and conclude by summarizing how lala activism can enrich global dialogues on the controversial assimilationist approach and the diversity of lesbian–feminist relationships.