preface
In the current research theme of sociology, family research is not a prominent science, and even a little unpopular. Many young scholars are on the fringes of the family sphere, often deterred. As a result, family research is often watched, and few people enter. This lonely situation does not mean that family research is not important. As we all know, the family is the cell of society, and the Chinese social and cultural tradition contains a strong concept of home-based, so that after the restoration and reconstruction of sociology in the 1980s, family research has occupied the main stage of sociological research for a long time, which is a very important link in the recovery and development of Chinese sociology after the reform and opening up. As a classic proposition of sociological research, family research is not obsolete. Since entering the 21st century, with the acceleration of industrialization and urbanization, the infrastructure of Chinese society has undergone profound changes, and new phenomena and new problems in the field of the family have emerged in an endless stream, how to promote family research in the context of the new era is an urgent task facing the current scholars.
In recent years, some phenomena in the rural family field have aroused widespread concern from the public, such as the issue of old-age care, sky-high bride price, single sticks, and two-headed marriage, which have put the reform of the family field back into the field of vision of the public. Everyone lives in a family, and has a personal experience of family life, which naturally can also generate a simple feeling of family changes, and the problems that arise in family changes can easily become popular public issues that arouse widespread concern. There is also a need for cold thinking about these hot spots. For a long time, people have been accustomed to analyzing family problems in the era of change from the level of weakening family ethics and simplifying family structures, but how family ethics has changed, what kind of state the family structure is in, how the current peasants carry out family life, and so on, all of which still need to be fully studied. In fact, although the field of family research is small, its many internal relationships and phenomena are intertwined and intertwined, and it has great social malleability. Therefore, in-depth academic research in the field of the family requires the accumulation of thick field experience, as well as the patience and imagination of seeing and knowing.
In the research context of the rural school in central China, family studies have a very important position. The central Chinese vernacular school mainly focuses on the social basis of rural governance, and the stability of family order is directly related to rural social order. Along the problem-oriented research path, the early research on the family by the local schools in central China mainly focuses on specific problems in the family field, such as suicide, divorce, single sticks, etc., and pays special attention to understanding rural family problems in the transition period from the perspective of intergenerational relations, and further reflects on the changes in rural social order on this basis. In fact, the family research of the central Chinese vernacular school has been placed in a very broad rural social vision from the beginning, avoiding the research path of the family as far as the family is concerned. Among them, it contains the dimension of looking at rural society from the family, and also contains the dimension of looking at the family from the rural society. The family is in a linked and close relationship with the village and the market. Through continuous field research, the depth and breadth of family research in central China's rural schools have been continuously expanded, and the research topics are no longer limited to specific family problems and family phenomena, but also the mechanism research on family structure, family function and family relationship, which initially presents the complexity and adaptability of the changing family order.
In China's rural society in an era of great changes, the family is actually a rich mine for academic research. On the one hand, the traditional family research topic has shown a new research space in the changing society, and how to understand China's family system is a challenging research proposition. On the other hand, with the sinking of state power, how to locate the function of the family, how the family plays a role in grass-roots governance, and how to activate family policies are all research topics worth exploring and expanding. In this sense, family studies should never be a niche field of study, but a fundamental field for forging a sociological imagination. Especially under the wave of sinicization of sociology, it is undoubtedly very urgent to re-understand and re-study Chinese families, especially rural families. To open this academic rich mine, it is inseparable from the academic accumulation of long-term achievements, and it is also necessary to maintain a high degree of sensitivity and enthusiasm for vivid family phenomena.
Li Yongping's family studies have adhered to the tradition of central China's vernacular studies. For a long time, Li Yongping has focused on rural fieldwork, has a strong interest in family phenomena in the field, and has burst out a lot of inspiring academic thinking. Previously, her doctoral dissertation had explored the resources, politics and ethics of peasant families in transition based on the logic and living conditions of the elderly in rural areas. This collection of essays is a by-product of his long-term cultivation in the family field, thinking about the problems that touch on different dimensions and different levels of rural family changes, showing the complexity of family order and the multi-faceted nature of family problems in the transition period, and excavating many academic propositions worthy of further study. It is worth mentioning that compared with the academic papers of the Eight Classics of Zheng'er, the writing style of the essay retains more of the inspiration of the field, and in the process of academic exploration in the field of the family, such a way of writing may help to get rid of the burden of thought, go light, and inject greater possibilities into the innovation of family research. Correspondingly, one of the problems of current academic research is that there are too many crutches, because it is too dependent on crutches, and it is often empty content under the serious and serious form.
This collection of essays is a new starting point for Li Yongping's family research, which is not necessarily mature, but reflects her down-to-earth and diligent style and keen and meticulous thinking that she is committed to deeply cultivating in the family field. The empirical phenomenon in the family field is in the process of rapid change, sucking the nutrients of the field, and I believe that Li Yongping will emerge more and weighty research results in the future, showing the charm of family research to readers.
is the preamble.
Du Peng
May 10, 2021
