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Individualization And The Restructuring Of Kinship Relations And Organizations In Contemporary Urban China

Posted on:2011-08-05Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:Y F ShenFull Text:PDF
GTID:1117360305997215Subject:Department of Sociology
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
The particularities of the traditional Chinese families have attracted most scholarly attention for decades. Owing to the assumptions of the unilinear evolutionary model, researchers have not fully taken into consideration the manifestation of Chinese particularities in the context of social transformation. It is generally acknowledged that the modernization process has given rise to the nuclearization of the family with emotional functions and an emphasis on conjugal rather than generational (parent-child) ties. In light of such assumptions about the transition toward the "modern form," the developmental trajectory of the Chinese family appeared identical with its western counterpart. And its particularities are rendered irrelevant.Through textual and empirical analysis this dissertation aims to show that the conventional classification scheme of families (nuclear/stem/joint families) has led to zombie categories which divorced from reality and suffered from the loss of vitality. We need to find a new approach toward analyzing the increasingly diverse, multi-level family structure and intergenerational relations. Guided by the insights obtained from the theory of individualization, this dissertation attempts to set up a new analytical framework for the ethnographic inquiry into the inner workings of the Chinese family under the dual impact of modernization and traditionalism.By way of a thick description of 46 white-collar families (households shared by couples and their parents), this dissertation delineates the process of change from "familism" to individualization. With a detailed analysis of the ethnographic picture depicted at this particular historical moment, this study demonstrates the features of the individualized family such as its structure, subjective identity, kinship relations, the singleton factor, needs, internal conflicts, and power issues, etc.The concept of an individualized family places an emphasis on expressing its own identity upon which the family structure is constructed and the model to handle family relationship is built. As a radical departure from its familistic past, the individualized family prioritizes the role and stand of the individual in terms of its ideal norms and practices with a strong tendency to break away from the patriarchal system. Meanwhile the organization of the individualized family differs from that of the quintessentially western individualistic family in that the close-knit intergenerational and parent-child bond exemplify the "traditional" in the modern.This study adopts several qualitative research methods which include participant observation and in-depth field interviews conducted in different settings. In addition, life stories, work histories and anecdotes have been systematically collected in order to bring multiple voices to bear on the everyday practice of individualized families from the "actor's point of view."In addition to theoretical and methodological innovation, the concept of the "individualized family" provides a new perspective for analyzing the logic of everyday life and obtaining a better understanding of intergenerational relations. If appropriately applied, the findings of this study will help offer policy recommendation in terms of resolving intra-family contradictions and conflicts and related social and community problems.
Keywords/Search Tags:individualization, traditional, social transformation, individual families, intergenerational
PDF Full Text Request
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