Multiple positionalities, plural movements: a feminist and queer interrogation of Sinophone diaspora activism

Abstract

The notion of diaspora activism has always been complex and contested, with multiple overlapping yet irreducible temporalities and positionalities. This article problematizes both the Western-centric tendencies in diaspora activism scholarship and reductive narratives within Sinophone diaspora studies that predominantly focus on either communities of people who were not born in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or male-dominated PRC diaspora movements, neglecting the crucial gendering and queering of diaspora political mobilization. Drawing on a multi-year autoethnography of transnational social movements, this article highlights the specific positionalities and practices of PRC-born student, feminist, and queer activists in the United States, who confront multiple interlocking marginalities in legal, racial, gender, and economic dimensions. Delineating the ongoing struggles of international graduate student workers and the overseas Chinese feminist network, as well as their organic connections to the White Paper (or A4) Movement, we illustrate the dynamic construction, negotiation, and diffusion of activist subjectivities. We argue that feminist and queer student activism emerges from and expands through liminal movement spaces, reflecting shifting power dynamics and organizational infrastructures within both Sinophone diaspora communities and broader social movement ecologies. Overall, this article envisions a more processual and intersectional interpretation of the Sinophone diaspora, opening up new possibilities for conceptualizing its political potential.