The Politics of Marriage and Gender: Global Issues in Local Contexts. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2023. US$32.00, paper. ISBN 9781978804661.
China has undergone drastic changes in recent decades. Against the backdrop of these transformations, both the nature of continuities and discontinuities are of great interest to scholars. In Chinese Marriages in Transition, Xiaoling Shu and Jingjing Chen examine what has and has not changed when it comes to patterns of gender, marriage, family values, and behaviour in China over the past few decades. One of their main aims is to examine how and to what extent the Second Demographic Transition (SDT)— delayed marriage, lower marriage rates, lower birth rates, and more diverse family types—that is often used to explain demographic changes in the West, applies to the case of China. Throughout the book, they refer to various theories applicable to Western contexts and discuss how their data reveals both similarities and differences. Their analysis is based on several data sets, including the Chinese General Social Survey, the Chinese Family Panel Studies and the World Value Survey. They also draw upon cross-national comparisons, including some East Asian countries, to contextualize their findings.
Each chapter approaches this question from a slightly different angle. Chapter 2 examines the historical evolution of gender and family from the traditional Confucian system to the global and neoliberal context of post-2004. It shows that patrilineality, filial piety, interdependence, and the “three obediences and four virtues” have strongly shaped family values and behaviour. Even during the Republican era, when Western influence and industrialization brought about some transformations, Confucianism restricted individual freedom. The authors show that while the Communist Party during the Mao era drastically promoted changes in gender relations and marriage law, domestic work was not considered worthy of political intervention and continued to fall on women’s shoulders. The one-child policy introduced during the economic reform era drastically reduced the birth rate, but paradoxically, they claim, essentialist gendered Western ideas merged with Confucian traditions, reinforcing certain gender roles.
Chapter 3 focuses on gender ideology in China across historical contexts and in global comparison. By measuring “vertical equality” (support for women’s equal rights and status) and “horizontal differentiation” (women’s dual roles as workers and mothers), the authors compare China with 47 countries. They point out that the Chinese population’s perception of gender equality is in the mid- to lower range globally (49). Norway, Sweden, and Finland rank highly, while Egypt, Pakistan, and Jordan rank low on both measures. Interestingly, the historical analysis shows that while socialist efforts (1950s to 1970s) mobilized gender equality, people’s perceptions did not move towards a more egalitarian gender ideology.
Chapter 4 addresses changing marriage patterns, examining cohabitation, divorce, remarriage, and fertility trends across seven generations. The study shows that China diverges from SDT expectations but also differs from other East Asian countries (Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan). For example, while college-educated women delay or avoid marriage, other women still tend to marry earlier. Women outside of marriage often face societal stigma as “leftover women.” The authors claim that marriage is still a powerful institution, especially for women.
Chapter 5 discusses how China’s economic development has affected perceptions of gender, marriage, family, and sexuality. The authors argue that modernization theory does not quite work in China. Using the Chinese General Social Survey, their analysis shows that the Chinese development model, based on a strong Confucian tradition and state control, has led to a new hybrid—maintaining a belief in obedience to parents, co-dependence of family members, and rejection of premarital, extramarital, and homosexual sex while believing less in gender role differentiation, the value of legal marriage, and patrilineality.
Chapter 6 examines fertility and divorce, asking how the number and sex of children are associated with divorce. Historically, sons have played an important role in maintaining marital stability in China. This chapter examines how such perceptions of the role of children and the status of women are reflected in post-reform China, focusing on liberal divorce reform, the one-child policy, and the hukou system. The authors claim that the changes have been shaped more by structural and cultural factors than by the framework of the Western gender revolution.
Chapter 7 examines marital dynamics by focusing on the division of labour and analyzing housework, income, decision-making power, and couples’ perceptions of marital satisfaction. Data from the 2017 Chinese General Social Survey show that traditional gender roles persist, particularly in the realm of domestic responsibilities. While men dominate major financial decisions, women often handle everyday issues, especially concerning their children’s education and daily expenses. Hence, economic resources do not always translate into greater decision-making power for women.
Overall, the authors conclude that gender and family change in China is uneven and experienced differently across gender, geography, generations, and education levels. Contrary to the expectations of SDT, marriage and family are still strong institutions in China. A hybrid of Confucianism, the socialist legacy, economic neoliberalism, and globalization creates China’s New Familism. The authors highlight that college-educated women, who hold the most progressive views, can potentially change gender ideology and family systems, although these changes are not likely to happen immediately or smoothly.
The comparison of China with Western trends helps to illustrate both congruence and divergence from expected patterns of demographic change (the authors find that some aspects follow and others do not). However, the book’s reliance on large data sets limits its ability to provide deeper qualitative insights into the ideological elements at work. The authors refer to state intervention or control, yet the focus is mainly on policy or law, while ideological facets are overlooked (such as the ideology of suzhi). Confucian values are presented throughout the book as enduring, but they are treated almost as if they were naturally rooted in society, rather than reproduced and enforced by the state and society. Such an analysis would require more qualitative methods and is probably beyond the scope of this book. Despite these limitations, Chinese Marriages in Transition reveals distinctive patterns that do not always replicate those of Western or other East Asian countries. This study encourages us to rethink assumptions about the uniformity or linearity of social and demographic change.
Chigusa Yamaura
University of Oxford, Oxford