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Paper short abstract

This paper analyzes the experience of cringe as a chronically conditioned response to normative expectations among young disability activists in China. By how people process and share cringes, I explore their implications for intimacy and worldmaking in China's disability rights movement.

Paper long abstract

“尬 (ga)” is a catchy expression among young Chinese netizens over the past decade. Similar to the English notion of cringe, Ga denotes a range of embodied reactions such as muscle tension or sweating when noticing awkward interactions, leading to speechlessness, uncertainty about how to respond, or forced laughter. Although most literature approaches cringe as an episodic response to an uncomfortable situation, this paper examines the extent to which ga becomes a chronic condition where one constantly experiences a strong mismatch between what one feels and what is normatively expected. I examine how cringe surfaces in hierarchical encounters with authorities when direct anger and assertive actions are not viable, if not completely censored.

Based on fieldwork with young disability activists in southern China. Through analyzing memes shared in private messages, venting conversations in closed groups, or eye contact when people face each other, I argue that sharing cringes has become an everyday practice of my disabled interlocutors as they navigate China's rapidly changing society and make sense of the norms and expectations. I argue that such sharing of cringes/ga – I call these practices cringe work -- allows them to process, challenge, disrupt, or resist (albeit covertly and subtly) normative ways of being disabled in China, as structured by the forced positivity and projects of nationalism and paternalism, as well as the emerging accessibility entrepreneurial projects. Understanding the chronic impacts of these power dynamics helps us better understand the contemporary disability rights movement in China.