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This Thesis Has Been Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for a Postgraduate Degree (E.G This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Understanding Small-Holding Households in a Changing Chinese Village Tingting Wan PhD in Sociology The University of Edinburgh 2014 1 Declaration This signed statement confirms that the thesis, Understanding Small-Holding Households in a Changing Chinese Village, has been composed by me and is entirely my own work. No part of this thesis has been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Signed Tingting Wan 2 Acknowledgements The research would be impossible without the support and contributions of many people. I have a deep gratitude to everyone who has supported and encouraged me throughout the whole process. Many thanks to the homely, diligent and kind-hearted village people for their enthusiastic participation and knowledgeable contributions. Many thanks to Professor Liz Stanley for her great patience and thoughtfulness, very incisive comments, and inspiring guidance that directs me towards an adventure of pursuing intellectual craftsmanship. Many thanks to Roger for his constant encouragement and helpful suggestions as a great source of knowledge. Special thanks to my parents, Chunming and my extended family in China, for their love, endless understanding, support and encouragement. 3 Abstract This thesis looks in detail at four small-holding households in a Chinese village that is experiencing the rapid industrialisation and urbanisation that has occurred in China over a number of decades. The research explores the dynamics of the households, which are at a point where traditional values and modes of living are challenged by the changing social, economic and cultural context. These small-holding village households are characterised by an interdependent set of family and household relationships and an intricate interplay between cultural expectations, resources dynamics, bonds of affect and economic and social activities. The research draws upon key literature concerned with household, family and economic life, to analyse the research data concerning these Chinese village households experiencing change. The research has been conducted within a narrative inquiry framework, as an appropriate approach for understanding the processes of adaptation to changes at the levels of households and individual members: what people do, how they feel, how they interpret ‘the self’ in the context of social, economic and cultural change, and how they talk about all of this. Fieldwork was carried out over the period from 2011 to 2014 in the village of Shang (a pseudonym) in the Huangshan area, Anhui province. In-depth interviews, informal interviews and conversations with household members were combined with long-term participant observation in the village, encompassing various households and many social events. The analysis of the resulting data is provided around three key topics: ‘Divisions of Labour, Household Work and Changing Economic Life’, ‘Resources and the Household’, and ‘Household and Networks’. 4 People have a range of different ways of coping with changes, influenced by many factors including their roles and aspirations and bonds of love and caring; while at the household level, the different styles and layers of livelihood are influenced by and in turn influence the organisation of material and particularly non-material resources in the household. The stories that people tell about their experiences, feelings and understandings demonstrate that they are actively responding and adapting to change rather than being passive recipients or resistant to this. Both change and continuity are witnessed through focusing analysis at both individual and household levels. Combining ideas about the household as a resource system and a narrative inquiry approach provides detailed insights on Chinese village households in their changing social and economic context. 5 Contents Declaration .......................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. 3 Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 1 Chinese Village Households in a Narrative Inquiry Project............................. 18 Households in a Changing Chinese Village: Introduction ............................................ 18 How to Understand Households in Change .................................................................. 25 A Narrative Inquiry Approach: Stories, Lives and Households ................................... 30 Analysing and Writing about Stories ............................................................................ 43 Joined Up Thinking ....................................................................................................... 48 Chapter 2 Households, Resources and Economic Life ..................................................... 51 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 51 Household, Family and Residence ................................................................................ 53 The Household and Resources ...................................................................................... 66 Social Resources, Social Capital and Household Networks ......................................... 88 Changing Economic Life and Household Divisions of Labour .................................... 94 Conclusion: Chinese Small-holder Households in Narrative Inquiry Research ......... 106 Chapter 3 The Four Households Introduced ................................................................... 112 The Huang Household ................................................................................................ 113 The Fang Household ................................................................................................... 116 The Cheng Household ................................................................................................. 119 The Zhu Household ..................................................................................................... 123 Chapter 4 Divisions of Labour, Household Work and Changing Economic Life .......... 128 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 128 The Household Head and the Resource Manager ....................................................... 129 Household Division .................................................................................................... 148 Change, Gender, Age and Tradition ........................................................................... 167 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 176 Chapter 5 Resources and the Household ......................................................................... 181 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 181 Land, Labour and Capital ........................................................................................... 184 Exchanges of Services ................................................................................................ 199 6 Information, Time and Knowledge ............................................................................. 206 Conclusion: Household Boundaries and Changing Household Livelihoods .............. 218 Chapter 6 Households and Networks .............................................................................. 222 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 222 Household Networks, Kin Ties and Neighbourhood .................................................. 223 Emotional Connections and Networks ........................................................................ 235 Networks As Social Capital: When Crises Occur ....................................................... 247 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 263 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 266 References ......................................................................................................................
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