China’s transformation to a market economy and its impact on gender inequalities – a theoretical perspective
China’s transformation to a market economy and its impact on gender inequalities – a theoretical perspective

Summary/Abstract: The change that China has undergone in the past decades has ‘mesmerised’the world, leading to statements claiming that the 21st centurywill ‘belong’ to that country. China has risen to become a globalpower, the world’s factory, and a place where the speed of socialchange has no comparison. This paper offers an overview of the specificityof China’s transformation from a centrally planned economy toa market economy, while maintaining the one-party rule of the CommunistParty of China, with particular attention to the situation of womenduring these challenging times. The primary purpose of this paperis to propose the theoretical framework for further research on genderinequalities in post-reform China, which allows the complex situationof the ‘mix’ between the post-socialist state and the market economyto be taken into consideration. It suggests the need to go beyondthe structural approach as the only way of challenging the dominantand changeable discourses and how they are being internalised andreproduced in everyday interactions under the interlocked systems ofthe state, culture and free market.

• Details
• Contents