Mobile Patriarchy: Changes in the Mobile Rural Family

Abstract

持续规模化的流动已成为中国农民家庭变迁的重要结构性力量。流动带来的去地 域化，侵蚀和破坏着血缘和地缘关系高度重合的中国父权制家庭，但其所致的家庭制 度变迁不仅具有解传统作用，同时也是一个传统重构的过程。父权制家庭在解构中延 续和重建，是体制约束、市场主导和父系父权自身延续的需要三重力量交互作用的结 果。这一流变的家庭形态不仅为“身在城市，根在农村”的流动农民提供了低成本生 存发展的基础，也以其特有的弹性适应能力，成为应对农村社会因变迁而生的矛盾冲 突的缓冲带，在特定历史条件下起到了消解社会紧张的作用。 关键词: 父权制家庭 解传统 传统重构 去地域化 Sustained large‐scale migration has been an important structural force bringing about change in the Chinese peasant family. The de‐localization resulting from population movement has eroded and undermined the patriarchal family system, with its high degree of overlap between kin‐based and place‐based ties. The resultant changes in the family institution, however, represent not just a de‐traditionalization, but also at the same time a process of reconstructing tradition. The continuation and reconstruction of the patriarchal family in the midst of deconstruction is a result of the interplay of institutional constraints, market dominance and the patrilineal and patriarchal system's own need for continued authority. This changing family pattern not only provides a low‐cost basis for the survival and development of migrant workers “working in the city but rooted in the countryside,” but also, through its peculiarly flexible adaptability, serves as a buffer for dealing with contradictions and conflicts arising from changes in rural society and plays a role in relieving social tensions under specific historical conditions.