Rich in historical perspective on women and men in the context of economic development, this ethnography provides a unique window on rural China since the 1930s. Laurel Bossen uses her detailed knowledge to explore theories regarding such momentous changes as the demise of footbinding, the transformation and feminization of farming, the rise of family planning, and the question of missing daughters. Based on anthropological research conducted during the 1990s in Lu Village and informed by the classic 1930s study of the same village by Fei Xiaotong, China's most famous anthropologist, Chinese Women and Rural Development goes beyond the enduring myths and cardboard images of women as either victims or heroes. Highlighting women's work in a complex farming economy and their choices in marriage and family, the book portrays individuals confronting a variety of changes, ranging from drastic to gradual, in their daily lives. Bossen examines the economic, social, and political practices both upholding and altering the boundaries of gender in the face of shifting state and market forces over time. Throughout, Lu Village women defy stereotypes, yet their stories, rooted in the reality of Yunnan province, express the commonalities and continuities of gender in rural China.

寶森：

紐約州立大學阿爾巴尼分校博士。1984年以來一直執教於加拿大麥吉利爾大學，現為該係人類學副教授。其研究興趣包括社會性彆與發展、經濟人類學、中國危及地馬拉農村地區情況。早期研究和著述側重於危危地馬拉和中美洲，撰有《勞工的重新分工：危地馬拉四個社區的婦女與經濟選擇》，並閤編《徵服的遺産：30年之後》。20實際80年代後，研究興趣轉到中國，從此執迷於中國農村的研究，七研究成果有：“婦女與發展”...