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Contemporary Families in Urban Asia
Contemporary Families in Urban Asia
Monday, 11 July 2016: 10:45-12:15
Location: Hörsaal 11 (Juridicum)
RC06 Family Research (host committee) Language: English
Urbanization has transformed both the physical and the socio-cultural landscapes of the 21st century. In Asia, there has been a great deal of attention on environmental sustainability, poverty and inequality in urban areas, while work on the urban family has remained relatively sparse. There is an enormous diversity in family structure and dynamics that is underpinned by multitude of cultural systems. It is important to know if these differences persist even in urban areas, and the extent to which they have been influenced by mobility, technology, and cultural and religious values.
All these influences are reshaping the family, and these changes raise two questions. First, are family forms and dynamics in urban areas converging in any way? Urban areas tend to be at the forefront of social change and share experiences of globalization much more intensely compared to more remote areas. Are there influences of modernity that are creating commonalities in family form and the nature of family relationships and dynamics? Second, does the family remain fundamentally the same as it has always been or has it changed so much that, as Anthony Giddens has argued, using the same categories to discuss the family may be hindering our understanding of the relationships and dynamics in urban areas? This session will bring together 4-5 scholars to examine these issues and give us a better insight into what the contemporary family in Asia is and is not.
Session Organizer: