Table of Content

20 March 2021, Volume 41 Issue 2

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The Paradox of Individualization: Queries and Debates in Contemporary French Sociology of Family

WU Zhen

2021, 41(2):  1-26. 

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Since the 1990s,with the diversification of family structure and the expression of individuality,the contemporary French sociology of family has renewed its attention to the relationship between family and individual. As a result,a large number of studies and debates about the "individualization of family" have emerged. In view of the complexity of the phenomenon itself and the differences in perspectives and analysis among scholars,we present here two major opposing views on its connotation,origin and influence. One view believes that this phenomenon comes from the demands and efforts of individual actors that marks the liberation of modern individuals and the decline of traditional families,bringing about a lifestyle and a civilization that are more in line with the needs of humanity. The other view sees the technological progress,social education and institutional innovation as the main driving forces of the "individualization of family". Therefore,for individuals, "individualization" constitutes constraints and even a cause for further stratification,ethnic division and mental illness of the society. The queries and debates between the two camps reflect two problems:First,in reality,even though individual are increasingly able to pursue their own identity,they can still be judged critically by the collective socio-cultural environment in France. Second,the long-standing dualistic thinking leads to a split between micro-and macro-perspective among French academia,making it difficult to construct a unified theory over the issue. To alleviate this dilemma,this paper proposes an exchange of ideas between Chinese and French studies. The aim is to put aside the differences between the two views,and instead to approach the phenomenon in a holistic and diachronic way. In addition, quantitative and psychological methods can be introduced into future studies of the individualization within the Chinese families that may help shed some lights on how to integrate the dualistic perspectives with the localization in explaining the noticeable social transformation.

Family-oriented Practice of Guanxi: Evidence from a Family's Private Letters(1972-1995)

WEI Lan, ZHANG Letian

2021, 41(2):  27-55. 

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Private letters as a type of historical data of social life have attracted attention in humanities and social sciences research in recent years. Through a holistic ethnographic narrative, this study presented 922 personal letters written between 1972 to 1995 by a couple who and whose families during that period were in a concerted effort to negotiate a job transfer back to Shanghai so the family could be united. The letters revealed Guanxi in action such as adopting specific strategies and networks, psychological changes and value alterations of the people involved, and so forth. Throughout the 1970s and the 1980s, the three generations of direct families remained very close. Despite the numerous socialist movements during the period, familism stayed as the core value of the couple, who were family-oriented and family happiness was the ultimate goal of their life. "Family" in this study contains two levels of connotation. First, it refers to an idealized "small family", that is, a nuclear family composed of husband, wife and their children. Second, it refers to a conflicting yet interdependent "big family" composed by parents and siblings (including married siblings and their spouses). We further argue that the compulsory and coercive moral education of the socialist movements failed to reshape the moral behavior of the social actors while familism with family "partiality" continued to exist in the cracks of the mandatory institutional arrangements of the state and successfully resisted the statism.

Change or Un-change: How Concepts Transform? A Case Study of Marriage and Childbirth Concepts in Yu Village of Eastern Zhejiang Province

ZHANG Wenjun

2021, 41(2):  56-86. 

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An investigation of the concept of marriage and childbirth in Yu Village of Zhejiang Province over the past 40 years finds that the change from the conventional normative concept of "having children after marriage" to the wide acceptance of "having children before marriage" can be explained as a trade-off strategy against the one-child policy to secure the continuity of family name. When the One Child policy ended, some families in the village once again adhered to the norm of having children after marriage. However, with the skyrocketed cost of marriage involving in luxury weddings and new houses, "having children before marriage" came back in fashion again in the village since 2010. Judging from the number of children born before marriage in the village, it seems that the traditional concept of having children after marriage has almost been abandoned. Nevertheless, if one examines the structure of meaning behind the now much expanded engagement ceremony, one can see it essentially redefines the "witness" and "acknowledgement" for marriage and childbearing. The elaborated engagement ceremony helps coping with the moral crisis of childbirth before marriage. In so doing, people adjust the concept structure to suit different situations and reconstruct the norms so as to carry on the spirit of certain tradition. This reflects the old saying of "changing in constant and constant in changing." Therefore, the discussion of concept change should not be simply based on a particular segment, or a phenomenon, or a form. Instead, one needs to look at the whole landscape, mechanism, and substance of concept change. It is necessary not only to grasp the "mutation" mechanism of tradition but also to truly appreciate the continuity behind the change, so as to reach a more fundamental understanding of the social structure in connection between tradition and the present.

The Higher the Education Level, the Later the Marriage? The Moderation Effect of Local Hukou in Urban Marriage Market

HE Guangye, ZHANG Yao, WU Xiaogang

2021, 41(2):  87-112. 

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Across the globe, the higher the education level, the latter the marriage. However, in modern society, with the improvement in education and labor participation for both sexes, especially when the cost of living makes it difficult to support family by one income, the delaying effect of education level on marriage may have changed. This study suggests the possible moderating effect of local hukou(residential registration) as a symbol of financial advantage on the relation between education and marriage. Based on the data from the Shanghai Urban Neighborhood Survey, this paper attempts to answer three questions:1) Does a Shanghai hukou moderate the delaying effect of education on marriage timing? 2) If so, is there a gender difference of this moderation; 3) Does this moderation change overtime? The results of a discrete event history analysis show that the higher the education level, the more obvious its postponement effect on marriage, especially for women. Regardless of men and women, compared with individuals with Shanghai hukou, the delaying effect of education on marriage is much more prominent among people without Shanghai hukou. The study finds that at the early stage of the economic reform, there was no obvious moderation effect of a Shanghai hukou. However, with the continuous advancement of the reform, the postponement effect of education on marriage has become more and more prominent among groups without Shanghai hukou. Interestingly, the soaring price of housing since 2008 has led to a reversed relation between education and marriage timing among highly educated male Shanghai hukou holders. In comparison with their counter part of non-Shanghai hukou holders, not only no postponement but a certain early marriage effect is observed. The study concludes that the rapid rising cost of living and the widening gap in income and wealth have made hukou a primary factor in shaping marriage behaviors in contemporary urban China.

Julien the Conqueror: The Novel of The Red and the Black and the Spiritual Revolution in Europe

ZHANG Weizhuo

2021, 41(2):  113-137. 

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According to the consensus in academic circles,modern sociology originated in the post-French Revolution Europe in the 19th century. From Henri Saint-Simon, Auguste Comte, to Herbert Spencer, sociologists were committed to building a united and organic society by focusing on enlightenment, social structure and history. Until 魪mil Durkheim put forward the idea of "society as sui generis" or "sacred society", did it begin the development of sociology as an independent discipline. Nevertheless, we rarely noticed the contribution made by novelists such as Stendhal,Honoré de Balzac, Gustave Flaubert and others, who were contemporary with Auguste Comte, the founder of sociology. Their works explore the profound human nature, show life's joys and sorrows, and illuminate the morality and customs of the society. Among them, The Red and the Black is undoubtedly an epoch-making pioneering work. From Friedrich Nietzsche's instinctive revolution to Jean-Paul Sartre's existential revolution, Julien Sorel's conquest story in The Red and the Black has always played the role of archetype. For Nietzsche and Sartre, Stendhal is not only the originator and contemporaneous person of the spiritual revolution in Europe in the 19th century, but also the forerunner of the times. With the increasing rigidity of European civilization, Julien's conquest story inspires later thinkers to break the iron cage and constantly reconstruct their modern self-consciousness and self-attitude towards society, history and civilization. As a result, The Red and the Black never loses its reference value to social theories and cultural studies. With this in mind, the author offers a close examination of Julien's epic journey of conquest against the background of the 19th century Europe, and a recognition of a possibility of renewing our own life as illustrated by Stendhal.

The Story of Heroines Who Rebuild Their Country: The State-Society Circumstances and Reaction of Female Leaders in Post-Genocide Rwanda

LI Jie, Mireille Batamuliza, Karangwa Evariste

2021, 41(2):  138-166. 

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The labor arrangement of industrial society makes" production and reproduction" a contradiction that is both separate and interdependent. One of the significant consequences brought by this is to re-establish the responsibilities and boundaries of production and reproduction between modern state, market, family, and gender. After the genocide of 1994, Rwanda has made world-renowned achievements in advancing gender equality, especially women's participation in politics. It is the "double full-time producers" model that continuously sustain this huge achievement, which means that female leaders not only bear the high-demanding production responsibility comparable to men, but also undertake heavy social reproduction labor. The public policy of Rwanda has assumed a dual role in this process:on the one hand, the state has promulgated a series of gender equality bills, policies, and measures from top to bottom to actively promote women's equal rights in various fields, especially political participation; On the other hand, under the background of severe labor shortage and insufficient public care facilities after the genocide, the Rwandan government has maintained and strengthened the responsibility of private family for social reproduction, while the traditional family structure and community culture's share of reproduction responsibility has been irreversibly weakened during the conflict and modernization process. While these female leaders rely on their individual strategies and informal social support systems to cope with the dual burden, they still face scrutiny and doubts from the community culture. The consensus on the destiny of the country's development and the sharing of historical responsibilities demonstrated by the Rwandan female leaders have many similarities with the Chinese Women's Liberation Movement, which also provides important inspiration and reference for us to rethinking the path of women's liberation characterized by economic independence and "the supremacy of production".

Confucianization of Law, Khadi Justice and the Embedded Normative Structure of the Fusion of Law and Rite

LI Qintong

2021, 41(2):  167-191. 

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The proposition of Confucianization of law put forward by QU Tongzu is inherently related to Marx Weber's evaluation of traditional Chinese law concerning Khadi Justice. Confucianization of law was the basis for the formation of the Chinese Khadi Justice model. The result of Confucianization of law was the fusion of ritual and law, and the formation of the embedded normative structure of "behavior→rite/crime→moralization/pu nishment". In practice, this normative structure could be transformed into the four secondary forms,namely, "behavior→rite→moralization", "behavior→rite→punishment", "behavior→crime→moralization",and "behavior→crime→punishment". The introduction of rituals into law helped instill Confucian principles into legal provisions, therefor, the implementation of law could be regarded as upholding Confucian ideas. Legalist Confucianism did not exclude legal adjudication in the form of "behavior→crime→punishment", and was open to the other three secondary structures. The Chinese judicial practice was quite different prior to the Confucianization of law. Judicial practice used to apply strict formal trials, and laws were used to exclude any influence of ethics; however, after the Confucianization of law, judicial practice possessed the elements of both formal and substantive trials, and the openness of the embedded structure made it possible to be trialed by non-legal means. As a result, all four secondary forms could be found in judicial practice. Khadi Justice had a high degree of political acceptance and judicial practicality, however, it could not completely replace formal trials. While traditional Chinese judiciary presented duality with strong Khadi Justice characteristics, this feature did not sum up all. Confucianization of law was closely related to the change of the knowledge structure of judicial officials, and the flexible structure of legal norms. These elements jointly promoted the emergence of a judicial model that integrated sentimental, rational and legal judgments, which, in essence, was a concrete form of the embedded normative structure.

Moment of Truth and Time Reconstruction in Life Course: A Case Study of Elderly Cancer Patients and Social Work Intervention

CHEN Xinxiang, WANG Jie

2021, 41(2):  192-217. 

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The existing literature on life course study mostly places individual life course events on objective timelines and lacks attention to individuals' subjective experience of time. Terminally ill elderly cancer patients from the LF hospital in Shanghai are selected for this study to examine the impact of the moment of truth when patients are informed of their diagnoses on their subjective perception of time. The study finds four major changes occurred after this critical moment:(1)Reconstructions of self-identity;(2)Compression and extension of time in life-course narratives;(3)Perception of time affected by pain and suffering;and (4)Time structure impacted by treatment schedules and hospital appointments. We further examine the influence of social work intervention on patients' subjective perception of time and how social workers help patients regain values of life. Active involvement by social workers at the end of life care empowers elderly cancer patients in multiple ways. Through cognitive intervention on reconstruction of time structure,social workers help patients to fulfill their unfulfilled wishes,to form a new narrative of their life story through "photo albums",to alter subjective perception of the passing of time,and to have positive anticipation of the future and healthier mental state. The findings in this study are also applicable to other groups who have also experienced "moment of truth" and suffered setbacks in their life course. Finally,this study provides many insights for the further development of life course theory,and promotes social work practice,especially the end of life care intervention service guided by life course theory.

Social Determination or Body Shape Selection? The Gendered Causal Relationship between Socioeconomic Status and Obesity

WU Hania Fei

2021, 41(2):  218-242. 

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Numerous studies have revealed the gender difference in the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and obesity:for women, the higher the SES, the lower the likelihood of obesity; for men,the higher the SES, the more likely it is to be obese. According to the "social determination hypothesis",this gendered correlation can be attributed to people's SES,the fundamental cause of obesity. The causal relation presents a direction from SES to obesity. On the contrary,the "health selection hypothesis" proposes that the labor market makes discriminatory selection based on people's body size. As a result,the causal relation is from obesity to SES. This study aims to examine the above mentioned gendered causal relationship between SES and obesity. Specifically,the fixed effects model and the dynamic structural equation model are applied to address the two major challenges of casualty establishment:confounding bias and reciprocal/reverse causality. The analysis based on longitudinal data of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) of 2010,2012,2014 and 2016 suggests a clear gendered causal pattern:for men,the positive association between SES and obesity results from both social determination and health selection hypotheses:higher SES likely leads to weight gain in two years;while higher BMI is also related to SES achievement in two years. For women,however,the negative correlation is mainly due to the health selection process:higher BMI seems to significantly reduce individual SES after two years.