Differential Coalescing: Re-Building the Coalition for ‘Single Women’s’ Reproductive Rights in China

During the 2020 Two Sessions of Chinese Government, national representatives debated ‘single women’s’ reproductive rights (SWRR), a cause spearheaded by a coalition of queer feminist activists and lawyers in China. In light of state retaliation against feminist and LGBTQ movements since 2015, why have feminist activists, LGBTQ activists, and legal activists been able to coalesce around SWRR? My analysis shows a differential coalescing process, in which Chinese queer feminist activists have driven the coalition to constantly re-center queer women’s lived reality. I argue that these activists’ movements between and around different dominant strategies for challenging China’s state-family project and their commitment to rallying others who may differ in their approach have made SWRR a site around which to coalesce in post-2015 Chinese civil society.