| ID | 186850 |
| Title Proper | Decadence and relational freedom among China's gay migrants |
| Other Title Information | subverting heteronormativity by ‘lying flat’ |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Liu, Tingting ; Gong, Jing |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Departing from the prevailing, individualist perspective of freedom, emphasizing individuals’ independence and the maximization of self-interest via unconstrained decision-making, this article applies the concepts of practised freedom and relational autonomy to explore the lived experience of Chinese rural-to-urban migrant gay men. Drawing on our ethnographic fieldwork in the ‘urban villages’ (城中村) of South China, we examine the ways in which rural migrant gay men achieve a sense of freedom, which is dependent on rural-to-urban migration, informal manufacturing jobs, and other queer peers, thus demonstrating a certain level of relational autonomy. Our article clearly shows how these men have come to identify as homeless guabi (挂逼, local slang for those who suffer a tragic and mysterious fate) and spend their days wandering, with no interest in stable work or long-term monogamous relationships. Our research offers a first-hand anthropological account of young adults from the rural working classes who prefer to ‘lie flat’ (躺平) – they refuse to strive for upward social mobility because they believe that upward social mobility is unattainable and a factory job too taxing. |
| `In' analytical Note | China Information Vol. 36, No.2; Jul 2022: p.200–220 |
| Journal Source | China Information 2022-08 36, 2 |
| Key Words | Freedom ; Labour ; Rural Migration ; Queer Studies ; Heteronormativity ; Lie Flat |