Shifting Traditions of Childrearing in China: Narratives from Three Generations of Women

This book explores the experiences of Chinese mothers across three generations, highlighting the gender-based roles and devalued responsibilities in childcare. It adopts a historical and sociological approach with a case study design to investigate 12 families from different social-economic backgrounds. The research provides insights into how changing structural elements have shaped mothers' subjectivities and addresses the continuities of women's experiences, emphasizing the complex relationship between womens agency and China's social structures.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 226 pages
Publication date: 25 September 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This groundbreaking book takes a unique intergenerational approach to understanding motherhood in China, emphasizing that gender is not fixed and that motherhood is not isolated from other social domains. The author adopts a historical and sociological design with a case study approach to investigate three living generations of women from 12 families of varied social-economic backgrounds in China. By comparing three aspects of these mothers' lives – namely their growing-up experiences, motherhood experiences, and intergenerational transmission between mothers and daughters – this research offers a valuable opportunity to observe how changing structural elements shaped mothers' varied subjectivities similarly or differently. It also addresses the continuities of women's experiences, highlighting the gendered and devalued roles in childcare that existed across three generations, reflecting the complex dynamic relationship between women's agency and China's social structures.

This book is a must-read for researchers, students, professionals, and practitioners in the fields of sociology of families, childhood, and education, gender studies, motherhood/parenthood studies, narrative studies, social policy, and development studies. It provides valuable insights into the experiences of Chinese mothers and sheds light on the complex interplay between gender, social structures, and motherhood in China.

Weight: 453g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032022963