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Suowei XiaoAssistant Professor

School of Social Development and Public PolicyBeijing Normal University

Chinese Society of Transition

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Lecture Outline

• What is societal transition?

• Social transition in China: traditional society – socialism – market-oriented reform– Traditional Chinese society (pre-1949)– Socialist period (1949-1979)– Market reform (1979-present)

• Understanding societal transition in China through the lens of gender and family relations

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Societal Transition

• The fundamental societal transition: from a traditional society to a modern society

• In western countries, modernization is driven by capitalism and industrial revolution

• The change is not only about technological advancement and economic progress, but also concerns transformation in social structure, societal culture, people’s mentality, etc.

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Transitional trajectory of Chinese Society

• Traditional society Socialism Market-oriented reform

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Traditional China (pre-1949)

• Agriculture is the main source of economy

• The majority of the population is composed of peasants

• They live in rural villages, sharing similar life style and values

• Centralized imperial power and local authority

• Social stratification: official-peasant-artisan-merchant

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Socialist Transition (1949-1978)

• Industrialization and socialist modernization• Command economy

– Rural: the commune system – collectivization of land, collective farming

– Urban: public ownership of enterprises, state allocation of jobs, work-unit system

• Household registration system– restrict migration– the urban-rural divide

• Status groups: cadre-worker-peasant• Government-society relationship: strong

state encompassing the society

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Market-oriented Transition (1979-- )

• Market-oriented economic reform– De-collectivization of communal land– Downsizing and privatization of state-owned enterprises– Emergence of the private sector

• Open-door policy – Absorb foreign investment– Export-driven economy– Emerging into the global market and society

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Critical social issues in contemporary China

• Large-scale rural-to-urban migration– Over 200 million of migrant workers in China today

• Social inequality– Serious income inequality

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“Family” in Traditional Chinese society

• Extended family– “four generations living under the same roof”

• The centrality of the father-son bond– The father-son bond is stronger than the husband-wife

bond

• Family was regarded as a collaborative unit, rather than an affective unit– Each member fulfills its role for the common course of

the family– The affection between the couple is not emphasized,

even downplayed

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The patriarchal traditional family

• Patrilinear

• Patrilocal

• Patriarchal– Women were confined to the domestic sphere– Deferring to male authority as women’s virtue

• Concubinage

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Traditional Chinese women with bound feet

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Socialist period: State Feminism

• State effort in engaging women in economic, social and political life– Equal rights of education, employment and political

participation by law– State allocation of jobs to both men and women– Outlaw prostitution and trafficking of women and

children; prohibit foot-binding and other practices that are harmful to women’s well-being

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Revolution of the Family

• 1950 Marriage Law– abolishing concubinage and arranged marriage;– monogamy becoming the only legal form of marriage

• State intervention in family affairs– Housing allocation through the work unit– State as matchmaker and intermediate of family affairs– Public facilities of child care

• The nuclearization of family

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Achievements of State Feminism

• Women’s status in the public sphere has been significantly improved

• High rate of women’s participation in the labor force– In the early 1980s, over 80% of urban women between

18-64 held paid jobs

• Work has become an important component of women’s identity

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Socialist Female Icons: “Iron Girls”

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Problems of State Feminism

• Unequal practices– Women were more likely to be allocated to non-

technical, service and auxiliary jobs while men were given technical and managerial positions

• Devaluation of domestic labor – Women’s double burden

• Gender equality Gender Sameness Masculinize Women

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The era of market reform

• Emergence of essentialized notions of gender

• Revival of traditional notions of “virtuous wife and good mother”

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Female Icons of the Reform Era

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Gender and Work

• Job market replace job allocation – individuals have more freedom to choose jobs

• Worsened gender inequality in employment and compensation– Gender and age discrimination in employment – Sex segregation in ownership sector, occupation and

industry

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Urban Employment

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76.3

63.7

88.2

72 70.1

Source: The 2nd National Survey of Women’s Social Status, 2000

Gender Penalty in income, urban China 1986-2000

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Source: Philip Cohen and Wang Feng (2008)

Courtship and Marriage

• Marriage increasingly comes to be a private matter– Individual choice + Parental approval

• The changing criterion for mate selection

• Pre-marital dating and courtship become more popular

• Divorce rate is on the rise

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Choosing Husband by Herself

0102030405060708090

Married Women (18-64) Married Women (35 or younger)

All Women

Urban Women

Rural Women

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Source: The 2nd National Survey of Women’s Social Status, 2000

Criterion for Mate Selection (Shenzhen and Ha’erbin)

-1966 1967-1976 1977-1986 1987-

Political Family Background 26.6 28.8 12.6 15.6

Personal Political Status

30.5 23.5 15.5 13.9

Social Education 10.6 11.7 12.6 25.3

Occupation 17.8 25.8 28.2 40.7

Physical Age 20.8 21.8 21.5 22.0

Health condition 62.6 68.0 58.0 60.4

Body shape 7.6 9.4 13.8 17.3

Appearance 13.2 22.2 24.0 28.8

Economic Housing 16.4 27.7 33.1 37.2

Income 20.1 27.5 27.0 34.9

Personality Honesty and Reliability

63.3 61.4 53.5 42.3

Consideration 32.3 38.0 36.4 39.6

Capability 18.0 21.8 25.0 21.2

Maturity 5.8 11.1 13.1 18.1

Sense of Humor 1.2 4.0 4.4 5.5

Compatibility

Temper 39.0 46.5 47.3 51.1

Habits 21.9 29.0 26.5 28.3

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Divorce (1986-2007)

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Source: Deborah Davis, unpublished book chapter

Family

• Nuclear family becomes the mainstream– Intergenerational ties remain relatively strong

• The trend of minimizing family size– DINK (Double Income No Kids) family– Single parent family– Single-person family

• Family planning policy– “Single child” policy initiated in the late 1970s– Since mid-1980s, “1.5 children” have been allowed for

peasant families

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Skewed Sex Ratio at Birth

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Year Sex Ratio at Birth (male/100 female)

1940-1949 109.7

1950-1959 109.2

1960-1969 107.1

1970-1979 107.8

1980-1989 109.2

1985 111.4

1986 112.3

1990-1997 113.5

2005 119.0

2007 123.6

2009 119.5

Source: Zhang Yi 1997 and Statistic Year Books

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Questions?

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