Women and leadership in the Chinese Communist movement, 1921–1945

Abstract

A prominent issue in recent literature on the women's movement in China is the relationship between feminism and the revolutionary process. Discussion and debate are still ongoing concerning the legitimacy and compatibility of feminist goals such as equal social, economic and political rights for women as an interest group in relation to the political and economic objectives of the People's Republic of China. Much work remains to be done to explain the role of women in the Chinese Communist movement. This essay will examine the involvement of women in the Chinese Communist Party's major educational institutions for leadership personnel prior to 1945. A focus on the leadership question should not obscure the fact that feminist issues were often much more directly confronted at the grassroots level of Chinese society. Yet studies of the participation of women in responsible positions of authority are one indicator of the progress of female emancipation within the Chinese Communist movement.