Journal:Social Sciences in Guangdong
Abstract:How to recognize and construct self is a subject that everyone must face in the era of individualization. Based on ethnographic research method, this paper analyzes the process of value transformation and the construction of the expressive-self of the young people entering the Y village in Guandong Province from the perspective of self-construction. Different from previous studies, wealth accumulation and age maturity are regarded as the conditions for moving towards expressive-self. The study found that the gradually mature rural gentrifying community provided diverse support for young people, which led to their tendency to expressive-self can develop. However, there is still tension in the rural gentrifying community dominated by middle class families, and young people are also unable to completely escape from the utilitarian expectations in the mainstream narrative. Their construction of expressive-self is always in the game of multiple forces. This paper extends the research on the expressive-self, enriching the understanding of the pluralistic values and social mentality of contemporary youth theoretically and empirically , and can also provide a new case and new perspectives for insight into "urban-rural" mobility and rural change.
First Author:Jiexiang Zhao
Issue:5
Page Number:214-229
Translation or Not:no
Date of Publication:2023-09-13