Shining a new light on modern Chinese families and gender roles

• Author: Publications Office
• Pages: 15-16

15

Shining a new light on

modern Chinese families

and gender roles

Family and gender are oen intrinsically linked to each other. Whilst the relations

between the two have been heavily studied in Western societies, one ERC-funded

researcher is currently undertaking the rst comprehensive study of family practices in

China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. e work is leading to fascinating insights on gender,

conjugal relations and intergenerational dynamics.

© Monkey Business Images, Shutterstock

Confucian ideology was the guiding principle of Chinese family

relations for over 2 000 years. But in the early 20th century this

came under scrutiny as protocols of hierarchical family relations

were considered to be holding society back. There followed a

series of political and social campaigns to reform the structure

of family life in China.

The Intimacy (Doing Intimacy: A Multi-sited Ethnography of Modern

Chinese Family Life) project, led by Jieyu Liu, deputy director of the

SOAS China Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies

(SOAS), University of London approaches the subject of modern

Chinese family life from a new and unconventional angle. Intimacy

considered the family as a process of practices and experiences,

CORDIS Results Pack on gender frontier research

Advancing innovative ideas and perspectives on gender