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Ritualized Law and Livelihood Fragility of Left-Behind Women in Rural China

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  • Chao Wang

    (School of Public Policy & Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China)

  • Jiayi Tang

    (School of Public Policy & Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China)

Abstract

Family separation in rural China has led to a considerably large number of left-behind women who have to deal with livelihood fragility. The Department for International Development (DFID) framework focusing on households provides a base to understand the livelihood fragility of these women. Based on this framework and the existing field research, this study identifies that the national macro-strategy of unsynchronized development of industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization leads to a separated migration model for rural families. Furthermore, the process of social modernization increases the fragility risk of how the left-behind family functions. The traditional gender culture expectations also directly affect rural families to make the livelihood strategy choice of, “male working outside, female taking care of home”. Based on the above theoretical research, this study extracts the concept of “ritualized law” to shed light on gender differentiation and family separation. A number of formal social security institutions have been established to promote the development of farmers, however, the ingrained culture gender differentiation encourages men to work in the profitable urban industry while women work in the field of unpaid agriculture and shoulder the responsibility of housework. This makes the formal institution a symbolic ornament for left-behind women, while they are forced to stay in rural areas and suffer from the fragility of livelihood.

Suggested Citation

  • Chao Wang & Jiayi Tang, 2020. "Ritualized Law and Livelihood Fragility of Left-Behind Women in Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-20, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:12:p:4323-:d:372567
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Collin L. Yobe & Maxwell Mudhara & Paramu Mafongoya, 2019. "Livelihood strategies and their determinants among smallholder farming households in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa," Agrekon, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(3), pages 340-353, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chao Wang & Jiayi Tang, 2020. "Ritualistic Institution and Livelihood Fragility of Female Migrant Workers in Urban China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-19, December.
    2. Chao Wang & Xuan Dong & Yan Zhang & Yiwen Luo, 2021. "Community Resilience Governance on Public Health Crisis in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-19, February.

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