Children in China
China Today
1. Edition January 2016
192 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Short Description
Chinese childhood is undergoing a major transformation. This book explores how government policies introduced in China over the last few decades and processes of social and economic change are reshaping the lives of children and the meanings of childhood in complex, contradictory ways.
Drawing on a broad range of literature and original ethnographic research, Naftali explores the rise of new ideas of child-care, child-vulnerability and child-agency; the impact of the One-Child Policy; and the emergence of children as independent consumers in the new market economy. She shows that Chinese boys and increasingly girls, too are enjoying a new empowerment, a development that has met with ambiguity and resistance from both caregivers and the state. She also demonstrates how economic restructuring and the recent waves of rural/urban migration have produced starkly unequal conditions for children's education and development both in the countryside and in the cities.
Children in China is essential reading for students and scholars seeking a deeper understanding of what it means to be a child in contemporary China, as well as for those concerned with the changing relationship between children, the state and the family in the global era.
Chinese childhood is undergoing a major transformation. This book explores how government policies introduced in China over the last few decades and processes of social and economic change are reshaping the lives of children and the meanings of childhood in complex, contradictory ways.
Drawing on a broad range of literature and original ethnographic research, Naftali explores the rise of new ideas of child-care, child-vulnerability and child-agency; the impact of the One-Child Policy; and the emergence of children as independent consumers in the new market economy. She shows that Chinese boys and increasingly girls, too are enjoying a new empowerment, a development that has met with ambiguity and resistance from both caregivers and the state. She also demonstrates how economic restructuring and the recent waves of rural/urban migration have produced starkly unequal conditions for children's education and development both in the countryside and in the cities.
Children in China is essential reading for students and scholars seeking a deeper understanding of what it means to be a child in contemporary China, as well as for those concerned with the changing relationship between children, the state and the family in the global era.
* Chronology
* Acknowledgements
* Introduction
* Chapter 1. Chinese Childhood in the Modern Era
* Chapter 2. Raising Children in Contemporary China: Discourse and Practice
* Chapter 3. Children and the Effects of the One-Child Policy
* Chapter 4. Childhood and Consumption in the New Market Economy
* Chapter 5. Children in the Countryside: The Effects of Economic Reforms and Parental Migration
* Chapter 6. China's Migrant Children: Opportunity and Exclusion
* Conclusion. Chinese Childhood in the 21st Century: Current Trends and Future Directions
* References
Andrew Kipnis, The Australian National University
"Orna Naftali's new book is a wonderful resource for those seeking to understand how a century of revolution and reform in modern China has shaped - and continues to shape - the lives of Chinese children. Through the lens of childhood, she engages with a series of critical issues facing China today, including those related to migration, consumption, globalization and national identity."
Charles Stafford, London School of Economics
"This book presents a clear, engaging overview of the latest scholarship about children in China. With vivid, specific examples as well as well-supported generalizations about the situations of urban, rural, and migrant children in many different areas of China, it is the most comprehensive book about Chinese children available."
Vanessa Fong, Amherst College
