| Summary: | In recent years considerable debate has taken place among Western scholars as to whether
civil society is presently emerging in China. For many of these scholars, any movement away from
state control and the assertion of individual autonomy is, for the most part, considered a positive
political development and one that will contribute to democratic processes. This paper argues that
state-society autonomy may not always be a progressive political force. Indeed, greater social
autonomy can result in increased marginalization for different sectors of women in the context of
both civil society, as well as democratization. For this reason, it is critical to analyse the connection
between civil society and democratization in terms of the gendered implications of both processes.
Only then is it possible to judge the extent to which the political transition is a positive political
development for both women and men.
Specifically, this paper conducts a gendered analysis of the work of critical intellectuals in
the 1980s and the work of Beijing women scholar-activists in the 1990s. Employing Joan Scott's
understanding of "gender," it is my argument that each layer of political re-definition that the critical
intellectuals undertook — political subjectivity, political theory, and activism — points to the
emergence of a male, and very masculine, "new public." The assertion of the critical intellectuals
autonomy was thus at the expense of others. The women scholar activists, on the other hand, have
been simultaneously asserting their autonomy vis-a-vis the state while building close ties with the
state-run All China Women's Federation. Not only have the women scholar-activists interacted with
a wider range of social groups than their male counterparts, but their view is that the state can, and
indeed does, play an important role in upholding the rights of women. Social and economic rights,
I would therefore argue, must be emphasized alongside political rights if there is to be any real
democracy in China's future. === Arts, Faculty of === Political Science, Department of === Graduate
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