Burnout Market Feminism: Inside China’s Female Economy with Dr. Ling Tang

In her book Burnout Market Feminism: Urban Chinese Businesswomen in the Internet Age, Dr. Ling Tang examines how female entrepreneurs navigate China's digital economy. Rather than viewing Chinese feminism solely through state socialist or civil society lenses, Tang introduces a third perspective focusing on women's economic agency within the market. While China's booming digital landscape allows women to achieve significant financial success and leverage economic growth to gain social tolerance, such as for non-normative identities, this market-driven empowerment comes at a high cost. Entrepreneurs face structural frictions, including state regulation of personal desires, navigating toxic, male-dominated guanxi business cultures, and absorbing heavy platform pressures. Consequently, women engage in auto-exploitation, framing extreme overwork as passion and national duty. Ultimately, Tang illustrates that while market practices offer a viable route for feminist ideas when civil society is constrained, true empowerment requires moving away from growth-obsessed burnout. This podcast is brought to you by Global Management Consultancy. Disclaimer: 1. The background music incorporated in this video is the intellectual property of its respective developer and is protected under applicable copyright laws. Notwithstanding that it is a free-to-use version, Business Talk, Global Management Consultancy, and Deepak Bhatt do not own, and expressly do not claim, any rights, title, or interest in or to this music. 2. Dr. Ling Tang shared key insights from her publication, “Burnout Market Feminism: Urban Chinese Businesswomen in the Internet Age”, in an engaging episode of the Business Talk podcast. The uploaded video contains copyrighted content, so changing any graphics, music, or on-screen appearance of the author or host is not allowed.