INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSFORMATION IN MOTHER-IN-LAW/DAUGHTER-IN-LAW CONFLICT AMONG RURAL MIGRANT WOMEN IN CHINA: A “COMPROMISE–EXIT” STRATEGY GROUNDED IN THE EXPERIENCES OF TWELVE RURAL-BORN WOMEN

Yao Qin

Todos os Trabalhos

Trabalho

DOI

10.29327/9786527226680.1441855

Título do Trabalho

INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSFORMATION IN MOTHER-IN-LAW/DAUGHTER-IN-LAW CONFLICT AMONG RURAL MIGRANT WOMEN IN CHINA: A “COMPROMISE–EXIT” STRATEGY GROUNDED IN THE EXPERIENCES OF TWELVE RURAL-BORN WOMEN

Autores

Yao Qin

Modalidade

IRSA - Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (01/10/2025 a 20/01/2026)

Área temática

IRSA 02 - The Rural-Urban divide: living conditions, well-being, work and vital trajectories in rural areas

Data de Publicação

06/08/2026

País da Publicação

Brasil

Idioma da Publicação

pt-BR

Página do Trabalho

https://www.even3.com.br/anais/sober-irsa2026/1441855-intergenerational-transformation-in-mother-in-lawdaughter-in-law-conflict-among-rural-migrant-women-in-china--a

ISBN

978-65-272-2668-0

Palavras-Chave

mother-in-law/daughter-in-law conflict, rural migrant women, intergenerational transformation, compromise–exit strategy, gender–spatial justice

Resumo

Drawing on 12 semi-structured interviews (2024–2025) with rural-born migrant women born between the 1960s and the early 2000s, this study traces the evolving nature of mother-in-law/daughter-in-law (MIL/DIL) conflict across two generations. Findings reveal a structural shift from disputes over traditional patriarchal authority to clashes between residual family power and emerging individualistic aspirations. Everyday friction now operates on two intertwined axes: (1) inter-generational power contests (fertility control, resource allocation, child-rearing sovereignty) and (2) quotidian micro-conflicts (living habits, cultural taboos, emotional boundaries). Husbands, positioned as key mediators, recurrently fall into three dysfunctional patterns: (a) “traditional-order defender” in overtly ruptured dyads, (b) mother’s “invisible accomplice” in ostensibly peaceful households, and (c) “conflict intensifier” who, prioritizing filial piety, colludes economically with the mother, evades mediation, and off-loads care/child-rearing duties onto the wife, reinforcing the latter’s sense of grievance and outsider status. In response, rural-origin daughters-in-law craft a “compromise–exit” repertoire: compromise via economic dependence, bundled care obligations, and conflict avoidance; exit via labor-market mobility (occupational empowerment framed as “rational career moves”), residential separation, emotional detachment, or complete relational rupture. Younger cohorts increasingly mobilize occupational mobility to achieve spatial-economic exit, signaling an individualized coping trajectory amid inadequate welfare. Ineffective husband mediation thus displaces care burdens onto women, widening the rural–urban well-being gap. Policy must reconfigure family mediation mechanisms and co-design inclusive care infrastructures with affected groups to redress gendered spatial injustice in care provision.

Título do Evento: 16th World Congress of Rural Sociology and 64th Congress of the Brazilian Society of Rural Economics, Management and Sociology
Cidade do Evento: Porto Alegre
Título dos Anais do Evento: Anais do 64º Congresso da SOBER e XVI Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (IRSA)
Nome da Editora: Even3
Meio de Divulgação: Meio Digital
DOI

Como citar

QIN, Yao. INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSFORMATION IN MOTHER-IN-LAW/DAUGHTER-IN-LAW CONFLICT AMONG RURAL MIGRANT WOMEN IN CHINA: A “COMPROMISE–EXIT” STRATEGY GROUNDED IN THE EXPERIENCES OF TWELVE RURAL-BORN WOMEN.. In: Anais do 64º Congresso da SOBER e XVI Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (IRSA). Anais...Porto Alegre(RS) UFRGS, 2026. Disponível em: https//www.even3.com.br/anais/sober-irsa2026/1441855-INTERGENERATIONAL-TRANSFORMATION-IN-MOTHER-IN-LAWDAUGHTER-IN-LAW-CONFLICT-AMONG-RURAL-MIGRANT-WOMEN-IN-CHINA--A. Acesso em: 22/09/2026