Women see reversal of China's one-child policy as more state pressure

Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in a New China
Published by Bloomsbury
320 pages ₹599
For anyone trying to understand China behind the headlines and the propaganda, Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in a New China is an important read. It provides a people's perspective of how Chinese society has evolved since economic reform and the manner in which the policies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have impacted Chinese women in particular. The book is an attempt to present the story and idea of China beyond the CCP and through the lens of the Chinese people.
The word revolution is also aptly used in the title underscoring how the word can mean different things to different sections of society and the Party. According to the author, 'This book is about revolutions in two senses. It is about China's economic revolution from the 1980s and 1990s onwards, after the Reform and Opening Up era…. It is also about the personal revolutions undertaken by four young women born in those decades as they came of age amid the inconsistent rise — and now stumble — of social mobility in China's capitalist era'.
Women pay the highest price in any revolution and China is no different. Though Mao Zedong did famously proclaim, 'Women hold up half the sky', Chinese society does not reflect this outlook in any meaningful way. China is inherently patriarchal; for proof, one need look no further than the gender composition of the Chinese Politburo Standing Committee.
Even initiatives such as the 'One-Child Policy' have been aimed at directing and controlling women's agency over their bodies. This coupled with the preference for a male child has consistently aggravated the intensity of inequality within Chinese society. The modification of the one-child policy to a two-child policy in 2016 and to a three-child policy in 2021 directly impacts the lives of Chinese women. These changes were driven primarily because of decreasing birth rates. She describes how Chinese women responded: 'Rather than being seen as a permission to have more children, everyone saw it as a sign of looming government pressure on women to rescue the country's plummeting birth rate'.
There is no denying that Chinese society has seen enormous changes since economic reform. Large swathes of the population were lifted out of poverty, compulsory primary education ensured a high degree of literacy, urbanisation has been swift, and the country is an economic and military powerhouse. What gets lost in this big upbeat picture is the people. How have their lives been impacted? Can data be the only measure of success?
For instance, the author shrewdly offers a take on how Chinese women approach the issue of using make-up. She highlights how using makeup is linked to the notions of being feudal and the 'fact that the party had later denounced wearing makeup as a bourgeois fashion'. But equally, a decision to apply makeup can also be considered revolutionary.
The book skilfully juxtaposes the lives of four 'ordinary' women since their birth to their adult lives. It also paints a picture of how the policies adopted and implemented by the Party impacts each one of them differently and yet similarly, and underscores why the major challenges that the Chinese society faces today cannot be addressed by top-down policy changes.
These policies primarily represent what the Party needs at any given point of time to survive and gain legitimacy. But these policies have also failed to address the real challenges. What China needs is a major revisit of the hukou system, the healthcare system, the insurance system, and child care and education system. The book details that, 'by the mid-2010s, government figures suggested that there were 13 million people without any kind of hukou, of whom 8 million had been children outside their parents' birth quotas'. It also highlights the challenges migrant workers face today, the same workers who have played a crucial role in China's economic revolution.
This is not just a book about four lives; it is about how these women adapt to the changes around them. How they try to understand the lives of their parents and their children while understanding themselves. How they all define a purpose for themselves while making the most of the limitations and challenges.
The book also shows how feudal, Marxist and capitalist structures coexist in China today. It provides a nuanced and novel context for what is a revolution in today's China. And that can be a small decision, something as simple as expressing your own opinions and deciding what kind of life you want to live.
The reviewer is associate professor, O P Jindal Global University

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Time of India

3 hours ago

• Time of India

EU bars Chinese firms from most medical device tenders

The European Union will bar Chinese companies from participating in EU public tenders for medical devices worth 60 billion euros or more ($68.9 billion) per year after concluding that EU companies are not given fair access in China. The measure announced by the European Commission on Friday is the first under the EU's International Procurement Instrument , which entered into force in 2022 and is designed to ensure reciprocal market access. The new restrictions are likely to increase tensions with Beijing inflamed by EU tariffs on China-built electric vehicles, Chinese measures against EU brandy and curbs on exports of rare earths that the EU wants resolved by an EU-China summit in July. The Commission said on Friday that it would exclude Chinese companies from EU government purchases above five million euros. An EU official said, guided by figures of Medtech Europe, the EU medical technology market was worth some 150 billion euros in 2023, with public procurement accounting for a 70% share. Contracts of over 5 million euros were only 4% of tenders, but made up some 60% by value, the official said. Successful bids will have to ensure they include no more than 50% of medical devices from China. If there are no alternative suppliers, the exclusion will not apply. EU members backed the plan earlier this month. The Commission has previously said it found "clear evidence" that China favoured Chinese devices for hospitals and its tender conditions led to abnormally low bids that profit-oriented companies could not offer. A Commission official said the ban would cover medical equipment including imaging equipment, artificial body parts and medical clothing. China's commerce ministry has previously described the proposed EU measures as "protectionist", urging the EU to be fair and transparent and for both sides to resolve differences through cooperation and dialogue. The Commission said China had not proposed any corrective action to remedy the situation, but an agreement was still possible.

Time of India

5 hours ago

• Time of India

Israel security agencies warn people: Turn off your home security cameras or ...

Representative Image Iran is reportedly hacking into private security cameras across Israel to gather real-time intelligence on its adversary, highlighting a growing vulnerability in internet-connected devices amid escalating global conflicts, cybersecurity experts revealed this week. According to a report in Bloomberg, following a barrage of Iranian ballistic missiles that struck high-rise buildings in Tel Aviv, Refael Franco, former deputy director general of the Israel National Cyber Directorate , issued an urgent warning on public radio this week. 'Turn off your home surveillance cameras or change the password,' Franco urged, now leading cybersecurity firm Code Blue. 'In the past two or three days, the Iranians have been trying to connect to cameras to assess missile impact sites and improve their precision.' The Israel National Cyber Directorate is said to have confirmed the surge in cyberattacks targeting internet-connected cameras for Iran's war planning. 'We've seen attempts throughout the war, and those attempts are renewed now,' a spokesperson said Monday. While photos of missile impact sites circulate on social media, Israeli authorities have imposed an official blackout on such images. This tactic is not new. Gaby Portnoy, who recently stepped down as director of the Israel National Cyber Directorate, noted that Hamas previously exploited private cameras ahead of its October 7, 2023, invasion. 'The intelligence gathering from private cameras in the Gaza periphery was a disaster,' Portnoy said in an interview. 'Thousands of cameras, both public and private, were hacked over the years for intelligence collection.' Security cameras banned in Ukraine, US banned Chinese cameras by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Perdagangkan CFD Emas dengan Broker Tepercaya IC Markets Mendaftar Undo The issue extends beyond the Israel-Iran conflict. In Ukraine, Russia is reported to have similarly exploited private cameras near border crossings, military sites, and rail stations to track material movements, according to a May joint advisory by the US National Security Agency and Western intelligence agencies. Ukraine banned surveillance cameras in 2022 after warnings that Russia was using them to plan airstrikes, and in 2023, urged owners of street webcams to halt online broadcasts to prevent real-time missile strike adjustments. In the US, the Federal Communications Commission banned Chinese-made surveillance equipment in 2022 over national security concerns. The Israel-Iran cyberwar has intensified alongside physical attacks, with pro-Israel hacking group Predatory Sparrow claiming responsibility for disrupting a major Iranian bank and a cryptocurrency exchange. Iran's state-run IRIB News reported that Israel launched a full-scale cyberattack on the country's critical infrastructure. AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now

India Today

5 hours ago

• India Today

Rajnath Singh may attend key Shanghai group meet in China next week

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to travel to China next week to attend a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), people familiar with the matter said on will be the first visit to China by a senior Indian minister after ties came under severe strain following the military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh that began in May Delhi and Beijing are in the process of finalising Singh's visit to China, the people said. The SCO defence ministers' conclave is scheduled to be held in Qingdao from June 25 to is learnt that Singh may hold a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Admiral Dong Jun, on the sidelines of the SCO is hosting the meeting in its capacity as the current chair of the military standoff in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020, and a deadly clash at the Galwan Valley in June that year resulted in a severe strain in ties between the two face-off effectively ended following the completion of the disengagement process from the last two friction points, Demchok and Depsang, under an agreement struck on October 21, December, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval visited Beijing and held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi under the framework of Special Representatives (SR) dialogue on the boundary decision to revive the SR mechanism and other such dialogue formats was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan on October PM Modi-Xi meeting came two days after India and China firmed up a disengagement pact for Depsang and Watch IN THIS STORY#Rajnath Singh#India-China