ABSTRACT
New and more diverse forms of social organization came to exist in the China of the 1980s, and also in the 1990s despite efforts to manage such developments. The women's movement has not been immune from such changes, and it has featured both “local” and “global” influences on its organizational forms. Locally, the supervisory work unit, or guakao danwei, continues to be a fact of life for most new Chinese women's groups. However, groups have also had increasing opportunities for cross-work unit networking that has contributed to the overall shape of the women's movement. At a more international level, the introduction of the concept of “non-governmental organization,” or NGO, into China as a result of preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women and its simultaneous NGO Forum, has led to the growth of this type of organizing among Chinese women, and to the evolution of a more nuanced conception of what it means to be an “NGO” in China today.
