Abstract:

One defining event in global geopolitics during the last quarter of century has been referred to as “the rise of China.” This phase has been widely used to describe the situation whereby a previously American-dominated and Western-oriented world order has been (or presumably will be) succeeded by a new biopolarity of People’s Republic of China. Given as much angst created as anticipation, the impact of a rising China to the status of global superpower has been critically examined from various angles. By making unexpected linkage between queer and the rise of China, this paper leads the current discussion to a different direction. The study of queer reproduction across borders and the rise of transnational surrogacy industry particularly targeting LGBT clients in mainland China is presented to shed light on some fundamental questions about the nature, dynamics and contradiction of the China on the rise.

Bio:

Wei Wei 魏伟 is Professor of Sociology at East China Normal University in Shanghai, China. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from Loyola University Chicago. Wei specializes in urban and spatial sociology, gender and sexuality studies, and qualitative methods.