Changing roles, perceptions and responses: Women and environmental change in Yuhang County, Zhejiang

Since the introduction of rural reforms in 1978, rural communities in China have undergone extensive change. The rapid development of rural industrialization has transformed economic, social and environmental systems effecting change on women's roles and on the natural environment. Traditional gender roles are being transformed by changing family structures, labour dynamics and economic conditions. However, while increasing the standard of living and economic security of citizens, industrialization has also contributed to environmental degradation. As women's roles in their families and communities are transformed, they must also contend with local environmental change.; This thesis investigates the relationship between rural women and environmental change through a case study in Yuhang County, Zhejiang province. Based on a feminist environmentalist theoretical framework, a conceptual model was developed to guide the research. In-depth interviews and an oral questionnaire survey were conducted with eighty-two women who live and work in rural townships. Data were collected on community change, changing women's roles, environmental perceptions and responses to environmental change. Through a synthesis of primary and secondary data sources three themes emerge: woman's social roles affect their experience and perceptions; women's perceptions are influenced by the individual conditions of their lives; and their responses to environmental change are due to gendered division of labour.