Provided are: a process for the production of water-absorbing resin particles which exhibit high equilibrium swelling performance and combine a high speed of water absorption and speedy initial swelling performance and which have moderate particle diameters and exhibit excellent handleability； water-absorbing resin particles obtained by the process； and a water-stopping material and an absorbent article which are made using the water-absorbing resin particles. The process comprises a step of preparing a hydrous gel-like polymer by conducting the inverse suspension polymerization of a water-soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomer in a hydrocarbon solvent in the absence of an internal crosslinking agent in the presence of a surfactant having an HLB of 8 to 12, and a step of adjusting the water content of the hydrous gel-like polymer to 30 to 110% by mass relative to the water-soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomer constituting the hydrous gel-like polymer, and then subjecting the resulting hydrous gel-like polymer to post-crosslinking.
