Feminism and Socialism in China

Book excerpt: First published in 1978, Feminism and Socialism in Chinaexplores the inter-relationship of feminism and socialism and the contribution of each towards the redefinition of the role and status of women in China. In her history of the women’s movement in China from the late nineteenth century onwards, Professor Croll provides an opportunity to study its construction, its ideological and structural development over a number of decades, and its often ambiguous relationship with a parallel movement to establish socialism. Based on a variety of material including eye witness accounts, the author examines a wide range of fundamental issues, including women’s class and oppression, the relation of women’s solidarity groups to class organisations, reproduction and the accommodation of domestic labour, women in the labour process, and the relationship between women’s participation in social production and their access to and control of political and economic resources. The book includes excerpts from studies of village and communal life, documents of the women’s movement and interviews with members of the movement.