Originalversjon
S & F online. 2017, 16 (2)
Sammendrag
This paper reflects on queer grassroots activism in China, in the context of globally travelling queer and gender theory, politics and culture.[2] In particular, the importance and meaning of public visibility in activist struggles for rights and equality is examined in lieu of China’s unpredictable political and social environment, and with a focus on exploring the creative and tacit strategies that are employed in order to (attempt to) circumvent official censorship. To illustrate, I draw on three public Pride events that took place in different decades and different cities. Whereas these events are not representative of broader changes in any straightforward way, I suggest that they illustrate shifting articulations of local agencies, transnational connections, and the structural limits posed by political authorities in China, and therefore serve as a counterpoint to scholarly literature and activist discourse taking democratic civil societies as starting point for analysing queer activism and Pride politics.