Remaking families in contemporary China

Author / Creator

Qi, Xiaoying, author

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Summary

"The book examines a number of emerging practices engaged in family relations in contemporary China, and in doing so it draws attention to new patterns of behaviour and expectations. The book not o...

"The book examines a number of emerging practices engaged in family relations in contemporary China, and in doing so it draws attention to new patterns of behaviour and expectations. The book not only makes a significant contribution to the under-researched area of transformation of the family since the advent of marketization, it also shows why exploration of family-related themes is important in understanding the nature of society, the forces that underpin social relationships more broadly, and also the basis and nature of social change. This book fills a gap in the literature by examining such topics as the erstwhile unrecognized practices related to providing a child with a surname. It also examines the previously unrecognized migratory movement of rural and small-town grandparents, joining their adult children who have relocated to undertake urban employment, in order to provide childcare so that both of the child's parents can earn an income - thus participating in the massive 'floating' population that characterizes China's workforce today. In addition to these topics, three other aspects of family life that are under-explored in the literature are examined, namely spousal intimacy, divorce, and remarriage and co-habitation in later life. In all of these cases empirical material is refracted through new insights and theoretical developments. Research for this book is based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with 178 men and women. The interviews were conducted between 2015 and 2017 in Beijing, Changshu, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Hefei, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, and Hong Kong"--

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