Constructing the Autonomous Middle-Class Self in Today's China: The Case of Young-Adult Only-Children University Students

Autor/in	Liu, Fengshu
Titel	Constructing the Autonomous Middle-Class Self in Today's China: The Case of Young-Adult Only-Children University Students
Quelle	In: Journal of Youth Studies, 11 (2008) 2, S.193-212 (20 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1367-6261
Schlagwörter	Young Adults; Foreign Countries; Cultural Context; Family Structure; Family Size; Birth Rate; Identification; Success; Competition; College Admission; Decision Making; Middle Class; Education Work Relationship; Cultural Capital; Age Differences; Selection; Science and Society; Influence of Technology; Individual Development; Career Development; Locus of Control; China + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Young adult; Junger Erwachsener; Ausland; Familienkonstellation; Familiensystem; Familiengröße; Identifikation; Identifizierung; Erfolg; Wettkampf; Hochschulzugang; Hochschulzulassung; Zulassung; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Mittelschicht; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Auslese; Individuelle Entwicklung; Berufsentwicklung
Abstract	This paper explores the identity construction of a number of young-adult only-children who were winners in the fierce competition for a seat at university. The purpose is to gain an understanding of the choices and decisions these young people viewed as significant and how, in negotiating these choices and striving for their life goals, a particular understanding of the self may emerge. The study shows that striving for the middle-class lifestyle, which they viewed as the norm of "the" good life, the young people, as winners, do not dare to stand still on the academic road. Moreover, as much as possible, they wished to secure other forms of capital by joining the Party and entering for the Civil Servants' Examination. In planning their lives and attempting to achieve their life goals, the young people have adopted an individualized approach, displaying a form of the self consistent with the autonomous, self-authoring and individualistic neoliberal subject, with little reference to the socialist-collectivist values with which the Party has been attempting to indoctrinate Chinese citizens. Such a relation to the self is analyzed against the subjectification regimes in today's China and the social-cultural context in which these individuals' lives are imbedded. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10