The emergence of women's studies in China

Abstract

This essay contains the process of the emergence of Women's Studies as an academic subject in China since the late 1970s. It begins with a survey of women's political emancipation in China brought about by the Communist Revolution including a discussion of its limitations. It argues that it is against this background that there was a new awakening among women and in the society as a whole regarding the nature of women's issues in contemporary China. It further contends that the emergence of Women's Studies resulted from this move to a more liberal and “open” atmosphere. Next, it discusses features of the extending forms of emerging Chinese Women's Studies by identifying problems for the further development of Women's Studies in China and pointing out that by developing women's Studies in China, Chinese women are making an effort to integrate the women's liberation movement in China into that of the world.