Migration, urbanisation and emergence of the individual: Same‐sex desiring migrant men constructing spaces and cultivating their self in a big Chinese city

The emergence of the individual is one of the most profound and significant evolutions of Chinese society that has accompanied economic reforms since the late 1970s. Existing research frequently uses a dual concept of ‘individualist’ versus ‘collectivist’ societies to approach the lives of urban Chi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAsia Pacific viewpoint Vol. 61; no. 3; pp. 509 - 520
Main Author Miège, Pierre
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Melbourne John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 01.12.2020
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects
Articulation
China
Economic reform
Ethnography
family
Foucauldian analysis
Friendship
identities
Individualism
individualization
Marriage
Men
Migration
Norms
Sex
Sexual behavior
Sexual orientation
sexualities
Social life & customs
Social norms
Urbanization
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Summary:The emergence of the individual is one of the most profound and significant evolutions of Chinese society that has accompanied economic reforms since the late 1970s. Existing research frequently uses a dual concept of ‘individualist’ versus ‘collectivist’ societies to approach the lives of urban Chinese. In the case of same‐sex attracted persons, as they often hide their sexual orientation in most of their social life and must respect social norms of filial piety and marriage, it is easy to conclude that today's urban China continues to be primarily a ‘collectivist’ society where the individual remains fragile. Using a long‐term ethnography of same‐sex attracted migrant men who gather in a public park to create a community of friends and invent some shared cultural and social traits, this paper proposes to deepen the analysis by borrowing the distinction between three different attitudes towards individualism developed by Michel Foucault. It will argue that these men actively construct specific spaces where they can live a private life, as well as experiment and explore their self. Therefore, these men display a more complex articulation between some aspects of a ‘collectivist’ ethos and the strengthening of individual traits.
Bibliography:This manuscript is a part of the special issue titled "The Migration‐Family Nexus in East Asia: Chinese Family and the Invisible Within"
ISSN:1360-7456
1467-8373
DOI:10.1111/apv.12281