Conclusion

The conclusion highlights how an examination of emerging family practices in China challenges the conventional approaches. Core expectations involving family obligation, marital intimacy, and intergenerational exchange depart from current conventional representations. The idea that descending familism characterizes a new norm is shown to overlook the ways in which private property shapes the consciousness of entitlement. Patriarchal elements inform relations between family members in ways that have not previously been encountered. Traditionally, only males could access family wealth; today, females have equal rights to shared property, as both spouses and daughters, and they may generate property through their own efforts that is theirs to deploy in their own terms. The conclusion expresses the hope that this book will stimulate and encourage further research on erstwhile neglected aspects of family life, as well as the development of new theoretical frameworks for understanding family dynamics, not only in China but more generally.