Contagious media mobilization: The dynamics of anti-harassment activism on campus

In recent years, the #MeToo movement has broadly empowered women, especially through online mobilization. However, little is known about how such mobilization has affected anti-harassment activism in nondemocratic regimes. China’s feminist activism is often confronted with a challenging political environment, and institutional mechanisms to handle harassment complaints are insufficient. Against this background, this study examines the mobilizing strategies of campus anti-harassment activism and its outcomes in China. Based on fieldwork examining a case study involving sexual harassment at a Chinese university, this study argues that the group of student activists was capable of implementing effective mobilization via social media; they made full use of both online public opinion and on-site activism to pressure school authorities. This study proposes the framework of “contagious media mobilization” to show how campus activists pursued their goals and desired outcomes. This exploration of the current dynamics of campus anti-harassment activism provides notable insights for future studies on youth politics.