ABSTRACT
As of December 1999, thirty-six of more than one thousand universities and colleges in China had established (or were in the process of establishing) centres for women’s studies. It was in the mid-1980s that women’s studies in China moved from individual research to organized collaborative endeavour. The non-governmental organization Forum required women from all walks of life to participate. Because of the preparation inside China and the busy exchanges between China and the international community, a series of women’s studies centres were established in universities and colleges. Since women’s studies centres have been set up at different times and in different external climates, their internal and external relationships vary. For organizers of women’s studies centres, the biggest challenge lies in keeping the internal operation normal so that research and teaching activities can advance continuously. The Centre for Women’s Studies, Tianjin Normal University has worked hard to dissolve patriarchal and hierarchical systems in the intellectual arena.
