Half the sky: interwoven resilience processes of women political leaders in China

Abstract

Applying communication theory of resilience (CTR), this study examines how women leaders in China’s politics enact resilience throughout their long career journey. We draw upon in-depth interviews to analyze the storied experiences of participants’ career development. Previous studies focus on the separate processes of CTR. We demonstrate how and when individuals interweave several processes through identifying resilience enactment in the following areas: resilience in resistance, resilience in (re)alignment, resilience in networks. Additionally, we propose the concept of subjective resilience resource as a new element of CTR by locating resilience in transformative achievements. Our findings contribute to CTR, bringing an additional way of conceptualizing the dynamics of resilience processes. Moreover, our study adds to the different contexts in which CTR offers an explanatory framework for how individuals and groups enact resilience to adapt to and transform their changing circumstances.