Dynamics of Polymedia LGBTQ+ Activism in China

In the last three years, mainland China's tightening grip on the LGBTQ+ population (exceeding 70 million individuals) and the gender movement has been undermining queer people's prosperity, well-being, and now even their very right to exist.

This research revolves around a very understudied group coming under the spotlight of this crackdown: young activists from university LGBTQ+ organisations who epitomise the entire movement and constitute its core strength.

From elucidating contextual complexity to illuminating organisational responses and activists' emotional realm, as well as fostering epistemological reflexivity, this project seeks to elucidate the real-world (as well as the inner-world) repercussions of the top-down censorship of the ongoing LGBTQ+ movement in contemporary China, thereby proposing the main research question (RQ): How do young Chinese LGBTQ+ activists navigate the affective impasse within the censored polymedia activism landscape?

I will answer this guiding RQ with three interconnected sub-questions: How do Chinese university LGBTQ+ groups mobilise polymedia strategies to address censorship? How do young Chinese LGBTQ+ activists interpret their emotional predicament and make life choices accordingly? How do queer studies researchers and informants rethink risks, ethics, and the reflexivity of knowledge co- production?

The proposed research methods include a combination of advanced qualitative analyses of focus group transcriptions and focused life story interviews, alongside a reflexive discourse analysis of the knowledge production process therein.

As this study involves vulnerable LGBTQ+ community members in China, ethical commitment and reflexive engagement are paramount. Anonymising, safeguarding measures, and debriefing will be ensured.

The School's Research Ethics Policy and Code of Research Conduct will serve as a compass and will be adhered to rigorously throughout the entirety of the research process.

Filling research gaps within the fields of social movement studies, cultural critique, and reflexivity, the resulting interdisciplinary thesis will contribute to the existing scholarship both theoretically and empirically.

The findings will serve to recalibrate prevailing scholarly perceptions of the LGBTQ+ activism landscape in China, addressing interconnected research gaps from an insider yet reflexive perspective.

Seeking puzzle-solving, rather than generalisability, this research initiative is an attempt to cast light on the micro yet vital facets of polymedia activism and vibrant forms of resistance in authoritarian contexts, offering a valuable frame of reference for academics, grassroots groups, NGOs, policymakers, and state actors.