All-Chinese women's association

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The Women's Association for All-China or All-Chinese Women's Association , All-Chinese Women's Federation ( Chinese  中华 全国 妇女 联合会 , Pinyin Zhōnghuá Quánguó Fuǹǚ Liánhéhuì , English All-China Women's Federation abbreviated ACWF), is a women's rights organization , which on March 24 Was founded in China in 1949 . At first they called themselves Democratic Women's Foundation All-China (All-China Democratic Women's Foundation). In 1957 it was renamed. It acts as the official organization of the women's movement in China and is responsible for the dissemination of state regulations among women and for the protection of women's rights in the government.

history

Before 1949: women's movements and precursor organizations

Chinese women's movement of the Kuomintang in Shanghai in 1925

The early Chinese women's movement goes back to the May Fourth Movement and the Kuomintang , which called for the introduction of Western values , equality between religions and, especially for women, the right to study at universities and to move freely in society. At the 2nd National Congress of the Kuomintang in 1922, at which representatives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) were represented, the delegates published a directive calling for an end to Confucianism and equality between women and men. This principle was made binding by both parties at the 3rd National Congress.

Independently of the existing First United Front , which was aimed at the goal of Chinese reunification , both parties founded their own women's organizations. The united front ended in 1927 during the successful northern expedition of the Kuomintang. In the course of the next few years the women's movement of both parties gained increasing influence. In March 1938, the First Women's Congress was held by the Shan-Gan-Ning Women's Association (a predecessor to the Women's Association). The program stated that all women should be united to help protect the land, and they already called for women to be able to flee violent marriages, to improve women's health care, the practice of foot-tying abolish, make domestic abuse punishable and protect women's inheritance rights. The women's association adopted many of these goals in 1949.

1949–1966: Foundation and early years

The "All-Chinese Democratic Women's Association" (中华 全国 民主 妇女 联合会) was founded on March 24, 1949 as the first nationwide women's rights organization and became the "All-Chinese Women's Association" that same year. Women who had been influential in the women's movement and the CCP were given positions on the association's governing bodies. Cai Chang , a prominent movement leader, active party member, and veteran of the Long March became the first chairperson. The organization was founded as an association of various local women's rights groups with the two goals of "building a socialist China" and "promoting the status of women". And soon developed beyond its original mission of gender equality and became an instrument of the party to mobilize women for economic, political and ideological projects.

Initially, Marxism-Leninism was the predominant ideology. The CCP promoted the women's movement as part of a larger Chinese revolution against feudal society. However, some CCP leaders condemned that most women continued to do housework and not actively participate in the revolution, while the All-China Women's Association countered that the economic situation did not yet allow all women to get jobs. Therefore, domestic workers, wives and mothers could also be actively involved in the revolution.

In order to increase the contributions of women, the "Five Good Family Campaign" was launched in 1956, which focused above all on education, housekeeping, mobilization work among neighbors, household chores and self-improvement. In 1953 there were already more than 40,000 women functionaries promoting the campaigns at the local level.

Around 1957 the women's association entered a new phase, which was made clear by the fact that the term "democratic" was dropped in the name. The association was formally incorporated into the structure of the party. In doing so, it integrated itself into the state hierarchy and developed into an organization of the masses. At the same time she acquired additional areas of responsibility. Since then, the women's association has been responsible for political propaganda among women, guarantees the inclusion of women in political campaigns, promotes political campaigns among women and organizes parades, meetings and demonstrations to promote the participation of women. The CCP sought to use the women's association as an official partner in realizing its gendered ideas. In addition, the women's association also made connections with other mass movements: the YWCA (CVJF) of China and the Women Personnel Section of the unions. The women's association also played an important role for the CCP internationally. As a communist country during the Cold War , every clue was important to diplomatic relations. The women's association reached women's movements abroad and was able to invite 23 delegations from all over the world to the Asia Women's Representative Conference in December 1949 . This enabled the PRC to bypass the diplomatic blockade and establish contacts with other countries. Soon after, however, the Cultural Revolution began and many initiatives were crushed.

1966–1976: The ACWF in the Cultural Revolution

The women's movement during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), like most other organizations during this period, became dependent on the Mao cult . During the Cultural Revolution, the women's movement was seen as bourgeois and reactionary because it originated in the West. In 1968 the women's association was dissolved because it had been labeled as anti-revolutionary. The party argued that the women's movement must be completely absorbed by the revolutionary movement. The offices were occupied by the Red Guards and many of the women in leadership positions were sent to rural labor camps for re-education. The movement remained switched off until the gang of four was arrested in 1976.

The committee for the 4th National Women's Congress met again for the first time in 1976. It began to rehabilitate the cadres (functionaries) who had been sent to the labor service and reinstated the women's association. In 1978, she was fully able to work again and announced that they are the four modernizations of Deng Xiaoping would support. The newly established women's association increased its work in local groups,

1976 – today: NGO status in the era of reforms

Chen Zhili, former ACWF president, 2009.

Since the 1980s, the women's association has set new priorities by subordinating responsibility to the party to the protection of women's rights and the enforcement of gender equality. While she was in charge of the propaganda that the CCP supported the women's movement, criticism also began because many of the measures had been ineffective and the dominant patriarchy in China was still unchallenged. The women's association increasingly looked at developments in women's movements in other countries and began to question the CCP's guidelines. The campaigns became increasingly diversified because they were tailored to the different needs of urban and rural populations. Although the women's association is still bound by the party line, it no longer takes part in mass political campaigns. In addition, the party officially declared the women's association to be a "supervisory body" at the beginning of the 1990s, so that it is also responsible for examining the effectiveness of the party’s measures. In 1992 it was also approved that she could run fundraising herself, which means she is less dependent on government funds and can pursue her own goals much more independently.

A new focus was placed on self-discovery by women and a four-self campaign (四 自 能力, si zi nengli): self-respect, self-confidence, self-improvement, and self-reliability. The balancing act of the women's association between government responsibility and the defense of women's rights can be illustrated using the one-child policy . The women's association was responsible for disseminating the measure but questioned it regarding women's rights. Ultimately, those responsible managed to balance things out by setting a good example, but at the same time rejecting all coercive measures related to the enforcement of the policy.

The women's association expanded the legal education of its employees, strengthened its finances, got involved in gay rights, combated trafficking in women and injustices at work and implemented legislation to empower women. In 2000, the Women's Association created jobs for one million unemployed women by setting up small businesses where women can work in family welfare or in service groups. The organization also supports the "leftover" women in China - women who are not married at the age of 27. The women's association offers alternatives to marriage, for example educational opportunities. In 1994 the organization had more than 68,000 branches and between 80,000 and 90,000 functionaries. In 1995 the party recognized the women's association, at least nominally, as an NGO in order to dampen foreign criticism. Nonetheless, as the association grew, it became increasingly difficult to reach all women using traditional communication channels. Other NGOs penetrated the empty spaces, some of which integrated themselves into the association to gain more legitimacy. At the end of the 1990s, there were 6,386 women's and recreational associations under the auspices of the All-Chinese Women's Association. The women's association continues to strive to reach the increasingly diverse population of Chinese women, to accept women's groups outside of themselves and to maintain the status of an NGO.

organization

Tasks and organization

The main task of the women's association is funu gongzuo ( Chinese  妇女 工作 , women's work). The association currently has seven secretariats for the various tasks: the Department for Children, the Department for International Relations, the Department for Development, the Department for Public Relations, the Department for Women's Rights and Interests, the Personnel Department and the General Secretariat. The women's association has strong relationships with the CCP through women's committees in the government. These committees are responsible for issues such as education, science, art and medicine. The party still has direct influence over certain areas of the women's association through cadres who work in the organization but receive a state salary, as well as through the government's right to promote. However, the women's association has a number of associated organizations that increase its influence. These include among others, the China Women's Development Foundation , Marriage and Family Magazine , the Center for legal aid, the China Women's Activity Center , the Chinese women's University , the China Women's News , the China Women's Publishing and the Women of China Magazine Publishing House . Many of these associated organizations serve to disseminate information. The women's association operates more than 49 newspapers and magazines and important topics are published in the magazines Zhongguo Nüxing (中国 女性, Women of China), Zhongguo Funü bao (中国 妇女 报), Chinese Women's Movements and Funü yanjiu luncong (妇女 研究 论丛; Collection of Women's Studies).

structure

Interaction with the Communist Party

Although the women's association is officially referred to as an NGO, its longstanding association with the CCP has resulted in great mutual influence. The four administrative levels of the women's association correspond to the state administrative system. The highest body is the National Congress of Women, which meets every five years. The study reports on women sent by the National Congress to the Executive Committee of the Women's Association set goals for the women's movement, announce policy changes, and serve as the basis for the election of the Executive Committee and the Standing Committee. On the level below, the Provincial Congresses meet every three years to elect their Executive and Standing Committees. The committees at this level are also obliged to follow the line of the women's association as well as to implement the party's directives and to report to the party. This gives the women's association a double structure, which means that it has to carry out party orders and inform the government about women's issues.

Relationship between local groups and the women's association

The women's association works at different levels from the national level to the provincial level to the urban and village levels below. However, it is only nominally hierarchical because the party controls every level. Rather than direct control, the higher levels provide guidance, ideas, and training for the lower levels. Occasionally there are complaints because women who are trained in party centers are promoted faster than those who have been trained by the women's association. For this reason women already have the incentive in the local chapters to follow the party line instead of the guidelines of the women's association. Other members see no difficulties in the work and consider the work of the women's association to be a successful version of a grassroots movement .

Relationships with other women's movements

The All-Chinese Women's Association faces the problem that it is generally not known what contribution the association has made to the women's movement. There are two main reasons for this: On the one hand, the women's association has numerous roles and offshoot organizations that are not identified with the headquarters, and on the other hand, there was no consistent political line, especially in the early years. Another problem is the relationship of the women's association to the international women's movement. The relationship between current feminist Marxist politics and international politics are often opposite. In addition, Marxism often describes feminist movements as "bourgeois" because they limit themselves to improving a segment of society and do not focus on society as a whole. The All-Chinese Women's Association is struggling to reconcile both views.

Challenges

Cooperation with other groups of the women's rights movement

The All-Chinese Women's Association is the largest organization of its kind in China and the only one that existed before the 1980s. Nevertheless, she is fighting to represent the multi-faceted interests of women and some critics demand that there should be a greater diversity of groups. Most of the NGOs that advocate for women are currently under the umbrella of the women's association to gain legitimacy and protection, and some of the women's organizations outside of the women's association are run by women who are members of the women's association, so there is strong overlap gives. New women's groups would have the opportunity to approach certain topics more sensitively and impartially, which is why the women's association has brought some of these groups into being and at the same time added other groups that expand their focus. Nonetheless, tensions continue to arise in this area, partly because resources are limited.

status

The government officially designated the All-Chinese Women's Association as an NGO since 1995. However, this division has been questioned several times because of the strong ties with the party. Some leaders of the international women's movements expressed themselves against participating in an NGO forum in Manila in 1993 because they did not see the criteria of an NGO being met and even the women's association in China rarely uses this term because it is often used to denote government opponents in the country. However, the NGO status helps to raise funds internationally. A complete separation from the state is probably impossible in China and discussions about the status of the women's association continue.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rana Mitter: Bitter Revolution. China's Struggle with the Modern World. Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 12 f.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Ka Yee Tsui, Justina. “Chinese Women: Active Revolutionaries or Passive Followers? A History of the All-China Women's Federation, 1949-1996. " Master's thesis, Concordia University, 1998.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Howell, Jude. "Organizing around women and labor in China: Uneasy Shadows, Uncomfortable Alliances." Communist and Post-Communist Studies. no. 3 (2000): 355-377.
  4. ^ Holding Up Half the Sky: Chinese Women Past, Present and Future. Edited by Tao Jie, Zheng Bijun, Shirley L. Mow. New York: First Feminist Press, 2004.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Zhang, Naihua. Searching for 'Authentic' NGOs: The NGO Discourse and Women's Organizations in China. Chinese Women Organizing: Cadres, Feminist, Muslims, Queers. Edited by Ping-Chuna Hsiung, Maria Jaschok, and Cecilia Milwertz. Oxford: Berg, 2001.
  6. ↑ Zheng, Wang. "State Feminism?" Gender and Socialist State Formation in Maoist China. "Feminist Studies. No. 3 (519–551).
  7. ^ Judd, Ellen R. The Chinese Women's Movement between State and Market. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002.
  8. ↑ a b c Bohong, Liu. The All-China Women's Federation and Women's NGOs. Chinese Women Organizing: Cadres, Feminist, Muslims, Queers. Edited by Ping-Chuna Hsiung, Maria Jaschok, and Cecilia Milwertz. Oxford: Berg, 2001.
  9. ↑ a b c d Howell, Jew. "The struggle for survival: Prospects for the Women's Federation in Post-Mao China." World Development. no. 1 (1996): 129-143.
  10. ↑ Fincher, Leta Hong. The New York Times October 11, 2012. "China's 'Leftover' Women"
  11. ↑ a b c d e Yihong, Jin. The All-China Women's Federation: Challenges and Trends. Chinese Women Organizing: Cadres, Feminist, Muslims, Queers. Edited by Ping-Chuna Hsiung, Maria Jaschok, and Cecilia Milwertz. Oxford: Berg, 2001.
  12. ^ A b All-China Women's Federation, "Women of China." [1] .

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