The power of feminist critiques and the quest for non-Western international relations share one epistemological caveat in practice. Namely, there is a tendency toward resistance that usually invokes binary thinking, informed by strategic essentialism. Consequently, femininity fails to deconstruct masculinity despite the widespread attention it has attracted. Rather, it is involved in a battle that ironically privileges masculinity. Using the concept of “self-feminizing”—the adoption of a feminine identity to oblige and achieve mutual caring as a relational strategy—Eros of International Relat ... More

The power of feminist critiques and the quest for non-Western international relations share one epistemological caveat in practice. Namely, there is a tendency toward resistance that usually invokes binary thinking, informed by strategic essentialism. Consequently, femininity fails to deconstruct masculinity despite the widespread attention it has attracted. Rather, it is involved in a battle that ironically privileges masculinity. Using the concept of “self-feminizing”—the adoption of a feminine identity to oblige and achieve mutual caring as a relational strategy—Eros of International Relations argues that postcolonial actors have employed gendered identities in order to survive the squeezing pressure of globalization and nationalism in their own way. The book illustrates the feminist potential for emancipation through offering a range of empirical examples, showing that women with various Chinese characteristics, acting on behalf of their nation, city and corporation, reject the masculinization of their group of belonging as a remedy for inferiority or threat. Where implemented effectively, actors who self-feminize have the potential to deconstruct the binaries of masculine competition and seek alternative strategies under the postcolonial global order. This book inspires revisionist and yet friendly reflections on the current studies of postcolonialism, international relations, relational theory, China studies, cultural studies, and feminism.