The Impact of One-child Policy on Generation Born in the 1980s in China - Research Proposal Example

The Impact of One-child Policy on Generation Born in the 1980s in China Insert (s) The Impact of One-child Policy on Generation Born in the 1980s in China Introduction One-child Policy is a famous population control and family planning policy that was introduced in the People’s Republic of China in 1978 and enacted in September, 1980 as part of the Communist government’s efforts to alleviate socio-economic and environmental problems in China. Prior to the enactment of the policy, Chinese families were allowed to have, on average, four children each as it was widely believed that more people meant more workers. For example, the prevailing attitude during the Mao Zedong era (1949-1978) particularly saw a larger population as a greater manpower and encouraged population growth by discouraging contraceptives and other forms of birth control (Goh, 2011, p.35). However, this significantly changed after the introduction of the policy dictating that parents could only have only one child. According to the Chinese government, the One Child policy has successfully retrained the mushrooming population crisis in China by preventing approximately 400 million births since the inception of the policy in 1980. Many critics however, argue that the law is a gross violation of the basic human rights. For example, the policy is widely believed to have impacted negatively on the traditional Chinese culture as many of the generation born in the 1980s have grown up without siblings and do not understand the cultures of their previous generations. Moreover, the Culture Revolution still influences the current society in China. In addition, this generation has somehow lost some of the Chinese Traditional customs, in contrast of the previous generation, such as: (can say here about the taking care of elder people). The way of thinking in Chinese society has obviously changed after those inputs, the medias, on the other hand, are still leading the same ideology since of the Culture Revolution. (Mass Media –ads, movies, tv programs, tv news, newspapers etc - influences in China before 1992 and still ongoing. The Mass Media contents - such as: magazines, ads, films, etc – before 1992 have more an educational role rather than entertainment, in a way that it created an idea in China upon people’s behaviour, lifestyle, values; even after the Reform these contents have not changed, it can be seen in film’s genres. Although the policy generally served its original purpose of reducing the high population growth rate in China, it has also significantly impacted on the generation born in the 1980s in China many of whom are now entering into parenthood. This proposal seeks to critically investigate the potential impact of One-child Policy on generation born in the 1980s in China. Problem Statement The research will be exploring the impact of One-child policy upon currently Chinese family structures. We will conduct an investigation by analyzing the change of values held by the post 80’s generation and understand how films can conduct one’s ideas and behaviours in China. As a design outcome, we will be producing a documentary that can frame the reality of this generation nowadays, by doing this; we will be conducting researches into Chinese mainstream and independent documentaries and films, and also comparing how this group can or can not be affected by them. Research Question The primary objective of the present research will be to critically investigate the potential impact of One-child Policy on generation born in the 1980s in China. Going by this intention the main research questions include: i. Are the films and the generation born in the 1980s responsible for the change in values and ideologies held by families in the current Chinese society? ii. Did the one-child policy adopted by China aided in the erosion of the social values held by the Chinese families? iii. Did foreign documentaries also shaped the values and ideologies held by the generation of Chinese born in the 1980s? Background Information In 1980, as required by the Chinese central government, the one-child policy officially began to be rolled out throughout the Chinese mainland. So Far, China is the only nation in the world that has adopted the One Child Policy. It has also resulted in a unique generation in History, and a new demographic structure in the country. Moreover, this policy has created a different family structure, as follows: one child, two parents and four grandparents. This familiar base brought up some social problems to the spotlight, such as gender issues: since there was a strong encouragement of having male child, who would continue the family lineage. By consequence, it caused an unbalance in the demographic sex ratio in China, according to (Sheying Chen and Jason Powell (2012). It has been thirty-five years since the One Child Policy was first introduced, thus some of them are now in their thirties, in other words, they have now a strong active role to the social development, as expected from the Chinese society. Furthermore, they have also witnessed profound transformation during the thirty years of their growth, there are two scenarios possibly experienced by them: firstly the context of political and social enclosure from other countries, in a way that Chinese people could only believe and see one type of political perspective; secondly, after the Reform and Opening-up Policy, in 1992, they could start having awareness of different points of view in terms of political, social and cultural aspects. In addition to the political points, the Mass Media in China also played a role that kept the political ideology.. This unilateral idea is still ongoing in the Chinese Mass Media nowadays; even Chinese people have now awareness of different types of culture. Why the Proposed Research is Important According to Sheying Chen and Jason Powell (2012) in their book “Aging in China” social values indicate the basic orientation of ways of life, social ideals and spiritual beliefs that a nation, country or culture represents. They determine basic judgments people make about what is right or wrong, good or bad, kind or evil, beautiful or ugly, in the political, societal, ethical, artistic domains. As such, when these values change over time, the culture of this society also changes. Finally, the mainstream values in Chinese films are necessarily based on the Chinese social reality, comprises one type that cares about individuals’ personal endeavours and another type that reflects upon the society through the stories of general character in it (Goh Esther, 2011). 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