{"title":"The reasons of unmarried Chinese women for avoiding marriage and childbirth and their identity construction","authors":"Yu Hu, Bo Jiang, Jiaxin Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.08.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.08.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The phenomenon of women avoiding marriage and childbirth has recently caused heated discussion in China. However, limited attention has been given to the reasons for this phenomenon and to their identity construction from a linguistic perspective. To fill this gap, this study employs corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis with legitimation as a theoretical framework to analyze the reasons of unmarried Chinese women for avoiding marriage and childbirth and their identity construction. The findings indicate that, influenced by macro-level political, meso-level social, and micro-level personal factors, these women predominantly define their identities through 2 dimensions: self-affirmation and self-stigmatisation. This discourse is articulated via several discursive legitimation strategies, including authorization, moral evaluation, rationalization, and mythopoesis. By systematically examining the overarching discourse, this article aims to assist unmarried Chinese women in managing their fears and cultivating a balanced, rational sense of identity for future decision-making.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"52 4","pages":"Pages 1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142150709","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Fischer, Michael M. J. Probing Arts and Emergent Forms of Life. Experimental Futures. Durham: Duke University Press, 2023.","authors":"Roger Nelson","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.11.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.11.002","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"52 4","pages":"Pages 34-35"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142651911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Zhou, Jianbo. Westernization Movement and Early Thought of Modernization in China: Pragmatism and Changes in Society, 1860s-1900s. Trans. Jianhua Zhao. Palgrave Studies in Economic History. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022. 386pp","authors":"George Hong Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.11.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.11.001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"52 4","pages":"Page 20"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142651993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Uchida, Jun. Provincializing Empire: Ōmi Merchants in the Japanese Transpacific Diaspora. Asia Pacific Modern, vol 18. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2023.","authors":"Takahiro Yamamoto","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.11.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.11.004","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"52 4","pages":"Pages 21-22"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142651994","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How social change occurs: Women's agentic negotiation and defiance of Chhaupadi practice","authors":"Miyang Jun","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.08.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.08.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study examines how the practice of Chhaupadi, a traditional Nepalese custom that restricts menstruating women from participating in their daily activities, is being challenged and negotiated by women. A thorough analysis utilized interview data from 11 women in Dhanshingpur village in Nepal, revealing that Chhaupadi is not an unchanging cultural norm. Instead, it undergoes agentic actions—scrutiny, questioning, challenge, and negotiation by women. Those adhering to the practice actively negotiated its extent, not passively accepting societal norms. Factors like new information, external influences, community values, family relationships, and personal beliefs played a role. Changes in Chhaupadi rules indicate a shift toward flexibility. Women's agentic actions, leveraging circumstances to tailor the practice to their preferences, result in a more adaptable compliance among Nepalese women.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"52 4","pages":"Pages 10-18"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142150710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ko Ko Thett, Brian Haman, Kenneth Wong, Su San Thett, and Ethos Books, eds. Picking off New Shoots Will Not Stop the Spring: Witness Poems and Essays from Burma/Myanmar, 1988-2021. Singapore: Ethos Books, 2022","authors":"Elliott Prasse-Freeman","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.11.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.11.003","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"52 4","pages":"Pages 31-32"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142651909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"Meghna Kajla","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.06.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.06.001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"52 3","pages":"Page 145"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142168356","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The changing faces of racism: Tracing the racial state through mixed-race categories in South Korea","authors":"Ji-Hyun Ahn","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.05.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.05.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper examines the emergence and development of mixed-race categories in South Korea in the context of the shift in the state's governing practices from the postwar period to the present. In particular, “mixed-race” serves as a conceptual framework for tracing the formation of Korea's racial state with respect to the distinct categories of Amerasians and the children of multicultural families. Drawing on theoretical approaches to racism, racial state, and biopower, I examine the treatment of mixed-race individuals in the regulation of the Korean population since the middle of the previous century. I document a shift in the subject-positions of these individuals from the status of <em>homo sacer</em> to that of <em>homo economicus</em>, each of which is associated with distinct modes of racism. The findings presented here have implications for critical mixed-race studies in Korea and East Asia more broadly and for expanding the understanding of the nexus of race, state, and power.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"52 3","pages":"Pages 128-135"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142168354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Constructing Muslim womanhood in Indonesia: Hijab and the governmentality of religious organizations","authors":"Jiwon Shin , Yong Kyu Lew , Myengkyo Seo","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.07.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.07.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study investigated the ways in which two religious organizations in Indonesia govern female bodies; specifically focusing on the construction of ideal Muslim womanhood through hijab practice. This mixed-method study combines partial least squares path modelling (PLS-path modelling), ethnographic research during fieldwork, and content analysis of social media accounts. The quantitative analysis revealed that among members of <em>Muslimat</em>, involvement with the religious organization and subjective norms exerted a stronger influence on sharia compliance regarding hijab practices than among members of <em>‘Aisyiyah</em>. Content analysis revealed that <em>Muslimat</em> prefers unified and monotonous hijab styles, while <em>‘Aisyiyah</em> permits more colours and patterns. While both organizations tend to avoid presenting female sexualities, <em>‘Aisyiyah</em> favours long and wide hijab, thus more strongly regulating the presentation of female sexualities. This research reveals the dynamics of religious organizations’ governing hegemony, highlighting the increasing influence of religion in the construction of ideal Muslim womanhood in Indonesian society.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"52 3","pages":"Pages 136-144"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142168355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rural local government and healthcare delivery in an Eastern Indian state","authors":"Das Suman, Ray Sthitapragyan","doi":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.06.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ajss.2024.06.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Based on field research in the remote and tribal-dominated Kandhamal district in the eastern Indian state of Odisha during 2019-20, the study examines the extent to which Constitutionally-created rural self-governance institutions (village Panchayats) fulfilled their mandated healthcare functions. Primary data was collected from villagers, front-line public health officials, elected local government (Panchayat) members and party cadres through focus group discussions and interviews. Employing the Foucauldian governmentality framework, the analysis moves away from a depoliticized understanding of decentralized delivery of rural health. The study concludes that Panchayats’ contributions to rural health are influenced by politically motivated factors, which may not be compatible with considerations of democracy and efficiency. Panchayat performance in the study villages remained poor as the state allowed them only regulated freedom and did not create space for their autonomy to flourish. Rural health decentralization led to new forms of governmentality as Panchayats were instrumentally used to consolidate state power at the rural grassroots. Top-down management of political process in these areas makes local government mechanical outpost of the ruling party.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45675,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Social Science","volume":"52 3","pages":"Pages 135-141"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141978841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}