Leta Hong Fincher’s landmark book Leftover Women shone a light on the resurgence of gender inequality in 21st-century China. Ten years on, women in China continue to experience a dramatic rolling back of rights and gains in the increasingly patriarchal political climate of the Xi Jinping era.

This updated, 10th anniversary edition was named one of the best books of 2023 by China Books Review. It includes new interviews and a new preface exploring developments in China in the 10 years since the book’s original publication, including the new “three-child policy”, the growth in online feminist and LGBTQ activism and the state’s increasingly repressive moves against dissent.

RSVP for the event here. The event will feature an introduction by Leitner Center Co-Director Professor Martin Flaherty, and be moderated by Fordham Law Professor Carl Minzer. The author, Leta Hong Fincher, will be joined by three women advocates. A book signing and reception will follow.

Panelists

Leta Hong Fincher, author, is the first American to receive a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University’s Department of Sociology in Beijing. The 10th anniversary edition of her book Leftover Women was named one of the best books of 2023 by China Books Review. Leta’s previous book, Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China (2018), was named a Best Book of 2018 by Vanity Fair, Newsweek, Foreign Policy Interrupted, Bitch Media and Autostraddle. The New York Public Library named Betraying Big Brother one of its “essential reads on feminism.” Leta is currently a Research Associate at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University.

Rayhan Asat is an internationally recognized human rights lawyer. She currently leads the China portfolio at the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Litigation Project. In November 2022, Rayhan was named as one of 50 people changing the world in Vox’s inaugural Future Perfect 50, a list of 50 visionary changemakers who are making the world a better place for everyone. A graduate of Osgoode Hall, Harvard Law School, and Oxford University, Rayhan formerly worked as an anti-corruption attorney at a major U.S. law firm, representing clients on high-profile corruption cases. She now works with civil society, diplomats, and lawmakers to address various human rights concerns, particularly the atrocities in Xinjiang.

Li Tingting, also known as Li Maizi, is a Chinese Queer Feminist Activist and a member of the China Feminist Five. She is internationally recognized as one of Foreign Policy’s 100 global thinkers and one of the BBC’s 100 women in 2015. She is currently based in New York.

Lü Pin is a feminist organizer, thinker, writer, and PhD candidate at Rutgers University. Founding Editor-in-Chief of Feminist Voices, she is the author of the recent article, How the Thwarted Feminist Movement Gave Birth to a New Generation of Blank Paper Revolutionaries.

Co-Sponsored with the Fordham International Law Association.

Lectures and Panels