Marriage squeeze, school dropouts and the hollowing out of filial piety: the crisis of social reproduction in rural China

Thesis

This thesis investigates how financialised social reproduction transforms rural life in contemporary China through a situational case study of Linxia, an economically marginalised prefecture in northwestern China. Drawing on eighteen months of ethnographic research, the study develops and applies three analytical concepts —"symbol workers," "internal money," and "reproductive cities"—to critically explore how market logics and financial pressures reconfigure essential life processes into increasingly important drivers of capital accumulation, operating alongside productive economic activity.

The core argument demonstrates that reproductive activities, once peripheral to capitalist accumulation, have moved toward greater centrality, generating novel forms of economic subjectivity and structural inequality through the interaction of multiple factors including state policies (hukou restrictions, land finance, demographic engineering), migration patterns, and longstanding gender ideologies. "Symbol workers" reveals how rural individuals become economically valuable primarily through their roles in financial transactions linked to reproduction—including mortgage payments, bride-price obligations, and healthcare expenditures—rather than productive labour. The concept of "internal money" illuminates how rural communities resist external market pressures through internally circulating financial mechanisms, such as bride-price exchanges and reciprocal obligations (renqing), thereby maintaining community cohesion and reproductive autonomy. "Reproductive cities" describes urban developments strategically engineered by local governments to commodify reproductive necessities—housing, education, and healthcare—to sustain fiscal revenue and economic growth.

Through an integrated analysis of educational dropout rates among rural youth, escalating bride prices reshaping local marriage practices, and the symbolic commodification of elder care, the thesis illustrates how rural families navigate intense resource competition across interconnected domains of social reproduction. The central argument posits that these transformations have not merely intensified existing economic pressures but have significantly reshaped traditional rural social structures and gender dynamics, resulting in both innovative communal strategies and new forms of structural violence.

Ultimately, this research provides critical empirical and theoretical insights into the contemporary dynamics of financialised capitalism in rural contexts, revealing broader implications for understanding socio-economic inequality, communal resilience, and the shifting landscape of global capitalist development.

Authors: Chen, Z

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-1avny6x4z
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: reproductive cities; symbol workers; financialisation; bride price; rural China; internal money; social reproduction
• Subjects: China Studies; Development; Anthropology; Political Economy