“他者”眼中的独生子女——《唯一的希望:在中国独生子女政策下成年》的方法启示与观点探讨

The Only Child in the Eyes of“Other”:A Discussion on the Method Inspiration and Viewpoint of the Book The Only Hope:Coming of Age in China under the One-Child Policy

本文对《唯一的希望:在中国独生子女政策下成年》这一主要面向西方世界介绍在中国的独生子女政策以及社会变迁的背景下,大连市一批独生子女青少年的成长过程和日常生活状况的人类学著作进行了分析和观点探讨。笔者认为,这一著作对社会学研究者如何进入田野、如何接近研究对象、如何进行自我介绍、如何进行参与观察和深度访谈都具有方法启示。同时,其在研究中所体现的深入的田野调查过程、求实的研究态度、科学的研究精神也值得社会学研究者学习。但是,该研究在用“他者”视角看待中国独生子女青少年的成长过程时,认为“创造一代颇有雄心的受过良好教育的儿童”是中国实施独生子女政策的初衷,这种观点是不全面、不正确的,同时存在“第一世界”和“第三世界”的概念歧义和混淆等问题。

This paper analyzes and discusses the anthropological book The Only Hope:Coming of Age under China’s One-Child Policy,which mainly introduces the growth process and daily living conditions of a group of one-child teenagers in Dalian under the background of China’s one-child policy and social changes.The author believes that this work gives methodological enlightenment to sociological researchers on how to enter the field,how to approach the research object,how to introduce themselves,and how to participate in observation and in-depth interview.At the same time,the in-depth field investigation process,realistic research attitude and scientific research spirit embodied in the research are also worth studying for sociology researchers.However,the view,in this research,that the original purpose of the implementation of the one-child policy in China is to create an ambitious generation with well-educated children,from“the other”perspective on the evolution of China’s one-child teenagers,is not comprehensive,nor is it correct.At the same time,there exist conceptual ambiguity and confusion between“the first world”and“the third world”.