Culture, Gender, and Social Transformation: Imagined Futures of Rural Youth in China

• In Event: 469 - Regular Session. Sociology of Culture 2

Abstract

Previous research disagrees on what shapes the expectations and aspirations of disadvantaged youth. While structural accounts posit that persistent disadvantages depress youth aspirations, cultural explanations suggest that cultural narratives independent of structural condition can heat up youth aspirations. I integrate both sides to argue that both cultural and structural forces shape youth’s imagined futures and their effects are dependent on the gendered experience of the actors. Using qualitative data collected in Northern rural China, I analyze the internal complexity – as manifested by contradictions and disconnections – of the rural youths’ imagined futures, with particular attention to gender differences. Depending on their genders, the rural youths used cultural narratives and experienced structural forces in different ways, leading to different articulations of complex imagined futures. Boys used the cultural narrative that educational attainment leads to future success to organize their long-term future, but entry into the labor market replaced education in their short-term imaginations. By contrast, girls expected continuation in schooling in the short-term, which, however, was disconnected from their long-term imaginations. These findings indicate how structural and cultural forces intertwine in shaping individual action in times of structural change.

Author

• Yingjian Liang, New School for Social Research