Contentious politics : digital media and transnational feminist activism

Contemporary Chinese feminist activism has involved substantive use of digital technologies and social media for racial and gender justice. This talk focuses on feminist activism, digital media, and contentious politics by critically engaging with how Chinese feminists’ use of digital media for civic engagement and political participation to advance their agendas in the transnational public arena. Liao particularly pays attention to the practices and experiences of Chinese feminists both in mainland China and in the US by investigating cases of cross-national organization, mobilization, and activism fighting against racial injustice and misogyny. In those cases, Chinese feminist networks are largely based on social media platforms such as Weibo and WeChat—the two such platforms most used by Chinese nationals—both in China and abroad. Their networks have also quickly expanded to include English-language sites such as Twitter, Instagram, and, increasingly, the multi-lingual live discussion app Clubhouse. In these contexts, Liao explores how these feminists use digital media to influence transnational and local politics and advance feminist causes and racial justice