Introduction : New Directions in Chinese Gender and Sexuality Studies

This introduction to the Routledge Handbook of Chinese Gender &Sexuality provides an overview of the edited volume. In this chapter, the co-editors of the Handbook discuss the book's disciplinary interventions and scholarly contribution, as well as the central theoretical and conceptual frameworks that editors and authors have collectively drawn on to develop new directions in the study of Chinese gender and sexuality. We also summarise major themes and case studies examined in the book that together capture some of the most momentous (under)currents in the studies of Chinese gender and sexual histories, cultures and subjectivities. In addition, we identify promising topics, emerging directions and urgent questions that are advanced through the Handbook, all of which are worth further broaching in future research in Chinese gender, sexuality, women's and feminist, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) studies.