Toward a Theory of Family and Revolution: Reflections on the Chinese Case

Abstract

Attempts to theorize about the relationship between family and revolutionary change have been based largely upon the Russian case and have adopted universalistic functionalist and modernization approaches. Three major contrasts in the course of family revolution in China challenge the validity of these interpretations. By placing feminist questions at the center of inquiry and adopting a comparative historical approach to an analysis of the Chinese case, this paper attempts to contribute theoretical refinements to family sociology, sociology of revolutions and feminist theory. The analytic strategy explains distinctive outcomes of precise aspects of the prerevolutionary family systems, the revolutionary processes and the postrevolutionary development strategies. A rudimentary theory of family revolution is proposed to explain the apparent failures and limitations of attempts to establish sexual equality via family transformation without precluding future success as a theoretical possibility.