Women of China Economic and Social Transformation Edited by Jackie West, Zhao Minghua, Chang Xiangqun and Cheng Yuan WOMEN OF CHINA Women of China Economic and Social Transformation Edited by Jackie West Senior Lecturer in Sociology University of Bristol Zhao Minghua Senior Research Associate in Sociology Seafarers International Research Centre University of Wales Cardiff Chang Xiangqun Research Officer The China Research Unit City University, London and Cheng Yuan formerly Research Fellow Policy Studies Institute London Foreword by Elisabeth Croll First published in Great Britain 1999 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-349-40984-6 ISBN 978-0-333-98384-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780333983843 First published in the United States of America 1999 by ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Women of China : economic and social transformation / edited by Jackie West … [et al.]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Women—China—History. 2. Women—China—Social conditions. 3. Women—China—Economic conditions. 4. Feminism—China. I. West, Jackie. HQ1767.W655 1999 305.4'0951—dc21 99–20111 CIP Selection and editorial matter ©Jackie West, Zhao Minghua, Chang Xiangqun and Cheng Yuan 1999 Foreword ©Elisabeth Croll 1999 Chapter 1 ©Zhao Minghua and Jackie West 1999 Chapter 6 ©Zhao Minghua 1999 Chapter 8 ©Chang Xiangqun 1999 Chapters 2–5, 7, 9–11 ©Macmillan Press Ltd 1999 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1999978-0-333-74088-0 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 Contents List of Tables vii List of Figures ix Foreword by Elisabeth Croll xi Preface and Acknowledgements xv Notes on the Contributors xvii 1 State and Economy in the Making of Women’s Lives: An Introduction 1 ZHAO Minghua and Jackie WEST Part 1 Political and Economic Transitions 2 State–Society Relations and Women’s Political Participation 19 WANG Qi 3 Understanding Changes in Women’s Status in the Context of the Recent Rural Reform 45 ZHANG Heather Xiaoquan Part II Gender, Migration and Labour Markets 4 The Role of Women in Labour Migration: A Case Study in Northern China 69 SONG Lina 5 Divided Gender, Divided Women: State Policy and the Labour Market 90 HUANG Xiyi 6 From Weaving Stars to Bitter Flowers: Tradition, Reform and their Implications for Women Textile Workers 108 ZHAO Minghua v vi Contents Part III Family and Household Relations 7 To Have a Son: The One-Child Family Policy and Economic Change in Rural China 137 MU Aiping 8 ‘Fat Pigs’ and Women’s Gifts: Agnatic and Non-Agnatic Social Support in Kaixiangong Village 156 CHANG Xiangqun 9 Rural Privatisation and Women’s Labour: Property Rights and Gender Concepts in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang 175 ZHANG Mei Part IV Organising for Change 10 Women and the Public Sphere: Education, NGO Affiliation and Political Participation 195 SHANG Xiaoyuan 11 The Development of Women’s Studies: From the 1980s to the Present 211 MIN Dongchao Glossary of Chinese Journals 225 Index 227 List of Tables 4.1 Basic statistics of the sampled villages, the rural survey 72 4.2 The determinants of migration: logistic model for probability to migrate 73 4.3 The determinants for households to have more migrants: OLS regression on ratio of migrants to household workers 75 4.4 Earnings function of migrants in Handan, 1993 79 4.5 Sectoral distribution of migrants by marital status and mean income earned in various sectors 80 4.6 Characteristics of men and women migrants 81 4.7 Location of previous job, by gender 84 4.8 Main attitudes towards migration, by gender 86 7.1 Desired number of children, by county and women’s employment, 1990 140 7.2 Gender preference of only children among those desiring one child only, by county and women’s employment, 1990 140 7.3 Average annual expenditure on child rearing, by county and women’s employment, 1990 143 7.4 Anticipated cost of a son’s or daughter’s marriage, by county and women’s employment, 1990 144 7.5 Perceived opportunity cost of childbearing, by county and women’s employment, 1990 144 7.6 The most important reason for childbearing, by county and women’s employment, 1990 147 A7.1 Parental expectations of children, by women’s employment and gender of child, Chongqing, 1990 154 A7.2 Parental expectations of children, by women’s employment and gender of child, Wujiang, 1990 154 9.1 Comparison of annual household expenditure between rich and poor families, 1991 178 9.2 Comparison of average household size in various regions 182 10.1 Education and NGO affiliation 201 10.2 Occupation and NGO affiliation 201 vii viii List of Tables 10.3 Age and NGO affiliation 202 10.4 Women’s interest in mainstream organisations, by NGO affiliation 204 10.5 Women’s interest in alternative politics, by NGO affiliation 205 10.6 Women’s interest in political participation, by education 205 List of Figures 8.1 Kinship diagram 157 8.2 A woman’s roles and relationships 169 8.3 Sources of non-agnatic social support by household 172 9.1 Number of people in household, by region, 1993 183 ix Foreword Within China the preparatory activities leading up to the UN Fourth World Conference of Women in Beijing in 1995 drew attention to and accentuated anew women’s issues. Indeed in retrospect these preparatory activities are likely to be designated a significant mile- stone in the history of the Chinese women’s movement. There were seminars, research investigations and new publications, with organ- isations looking to and addressing their own gender issues. More practically, the All-China Women’s Federation, at national and local levels, used the occasion of the forthcoming conference to initiate new programmes aimed at helping girl dropouts return to school, reducing female illiteracy, improving the conditions of female em- ployment, increasing women’s cadres and protecting women’s rights. Many women’s societies, professional associations and networks were established to facilitate their members’ participation in the accompanying NGO Forum in sessions with titles such as Women and Education, Women and Health, Women and the Environment, Women and Industry, Women and the Family, Women and Human Rights and Women and Violence. Each of these sessions involved some preparation, with groups of women meeting, sponsoring social investigations and writing papers for a series of preforum semi- nars, to which women throughout China were invited to contrib- ute. Many of these seminars attracted funding for international participants and more Chinese women than ever before attended preparatory and other meetings abroad. One such research seminar, held abroad, was organised by Chinese women scholars in Britain, who came together for the first time to present and discuss a wide range of papers on Chinese women in the economy and society, which are now presented here in a unique publication. Not only does each chapter provide emic reflections on a variety of women’s issues in China, but together they reflect the new interest in China in women’s experiences, rights and studies. A marked characteristic of post-reform China and of the con- tributions to this volume is a more open acknowledgment of the discrepancy between the images and rhetoric of equality and women’s experience of discrimination and inequality, be it in politics, employment, education or the family. These multidisciplinary chapters xi