Conditional Spaces: Hong Kong Lesbian Desires and Everyday Life

by Denise Tse-Shang Tang

Overview

Dense living conditions in Hong Kong do not provide much privacy for lesbians and other sexual minorities living with their families. As a result, lesbians often locate alternative spaces to develop support networks with other women. Others reject the notion of lesbian spaces and instead assert their visibility in different aspects of everyday life. Based on life history interviews with several dozen lesbians living in Hong Kong, this book maps the complex relations between personal subjectivities and spatialities as they emerge and interact with various social justice movements and alternative communities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789888083022
Publisher:	Hong Kong University Press
Publication date:	09/02/2011
Series:	Queer Asia Series
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Denise Tse-Shang Tang is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Hong Kong.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Note on Romanization and Translation ix

Acknowledgements xi

Introduction 1

1 Living Spaces 23

2 Consumption Spaces 41

3 Regulatory Spaces 65

4 Political Spaces 89

5 Cultural Spaces 113

Epilogue 127

Notes 141

Profile of Informants 153

Methodological Notes 159

Interview Guide 171

Bibliography 177

Index 191

Editorial Reviews

A rich, multifaceted understanding of lesbian life in late-capitalist, neoliberal Hong Kong.

GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies

Hong Kong is a queer space in a queer time. In this ground-breaking study, Tang explores how the impossibly dense spaces of neoliberal Hong Kong enable and curtail the emergence of lesbian life. Theoretically astute and ethnographically rich, this book b


“Conditional Spaces draws an inspired connection between urban spaces and lesbian subjectivity in contemporary Hong Kong. Theoretically engaged, sharply observant, and profoundly personal, this study presents a lively account of how women with lesbian des


“Conditional Spaces contributes to the growing body of literature on queer globalization, while revealing what is unique about same-sex cultures emerging under China’s gaze. An invaluable guide to understanding how Hong Kong lesbians create spaces of resi

From the Publisher

Hong Kong is a queer space in a queer time. In this ground-breaking study, Tang explores how the impossibly dense spaces of neoliberal Hong Kong enable and curtail the emergence of lesbian life. Theoretically astute and ethnographically rich, this book brings us into bedrooms, living rooms, classrooms, churches, offices, cafes, streets, and neighborhoods to interrogate the spatial conditions of desire.

David L. Eng