Family in Social Change: A Study of Contemporary Urban Families in China

Author: Liu Baoju
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: From a sociological systems perspective, human society is a complex organic system, and the family is the cell that constitutes this complex organic system. The family is a basic social organizational unit based on marital relationships and connected by blood ties and kinship. It has traditionally served economic functions in production and consumption, reproductive functions in population growth, educational functions in cultural transmission, and recreational functions in daily life, among others. Throughout the entire history of human social change, as society evolved, marriage and the family gradually moved from a primitive natural state to a state of social civilization, becoming a social institution that adapts to the political, economic, cultural, ideological, and moral concepts of a specific historical period. Under this system, a person, from infancy to adulthood, marriage, and the establishment of a new family, and even until the end of their life, the family remains their primary living environment. The book is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter outlines the biological evolution of humans from ancient primates to fully modern humans and the social transformation from savagery to modern urbanization, as well as the origin and development of marriage and the family as institutional products of social change. The following chapters primarily explore the main impacts of social transformation and change on contemporary urban families. Using data from three urban family surveys, empirical analysis and discussion are conducted on some of the key changes in contemporary urban family life, including marital and family attitudes, family formation, family size and structure, and family functions, as well as the main existing problems.