Transformations in Parent-child Relations: A Comparative Perspective from India and China

Description

Page: 623-626

Gurmangeet Kaur Pandey (Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, Delhi)

This paper analyses how kinship relations have transformed over time by examining the changing nature of parent-child relationships. How the parent-child relationship evolved regarding spouse selection, filial piety, the centrality of the conjugal couple, and property politics in China (Xiajia Village particularly) is discussed and compared to the scenario in India. Analyzing the laws and customs that govern inheritance practices and how they impact intergenerational relations is an appropriate reference point. That’s why the special focus is on the analysis of how property laws and customs governing property inheritance contradict each other and ultimately define parent-child relationships. First, the Chinese scenario is analyzed and then the Indian case is analyzed with a special focus on the Hindu Succession Act, of 1956. Analysis of Hindu property laws and Muslim property customs gives us glimpses of how complex the changes in parent-child relations are. Contrary to the common assumption that changes in family structures and kinship relations are linear as they go hand in hand with various social and economic changes, it is observed that the changes in kinship relations are very context-specific and dependent on the social location of the individuals. Ethnography by Yunxiang Yan (Private Life under Socialism: Love, Intimacy, &Family Change in a Chinese Village, 1949-1999) and Srimati Basu’s work (She Comes to Take Her Rights: Indian Women, Property & Propriety) on women’s property rights are also referred for this purpose.