自主个体与关系自我的创造性转化——“躺平青年”与新个体文化的建构

Creative Transformation of Autonomous Individuals and Self in Guanxi:A Study on the Construction of New Individual Culture among Lying-Flat Youth

“躺平青年”面临为自己而活的个体信念和无法靠自己而活的个体化悖论,为了抵御个体化风险,青年群体调用和激活关系自我的本土文化资源,基于个体本位与家庭形成再连接。这种与家庭的再连接并非新家庭主义所误读的对家庭关系的再嵌入,而是青年对家庭关系的重构,形成了以子代个体为中心的单向资源指向和关系方向的单向运作。作为个体化实践的“躺平”是中国式个体化进程中的一种文化实践,通过对中国传统家庭文化工具箱意义的调用和重组,关系自我的文化路径和消费主义催生的独立个体观念得以创造性重组、融合并转化为关系中的自主个体这一新个体文化。“躺平”所折射的中国青年个体化实践呈现出从主动个体化到被动个体化连续统的复杂图谱。作为个体化进程的躺平实践内蕴青年自我奋斗和寻求自我价值的希望,“关系中的个体”这一新个体文化的形塑为新型家国关系的建构提供了新的资源。

This study begins by examining the paradox of individualization inherent in the “lying flat phenomenon” —the tension between the belief in individuals living for themselves and the reality of being unable to live independently.It proposes that the youth group engages in a form of individualization through individual-centered reconnection with the family.This process involves activating local cultural resources related to relational selves to counteract the risks of individualization,rather than the re-embedding of family relations misinterpreted by new familialism.By reconnecting with the family,young individuals have reshaped their family relations,forming a unidirectional resource orientation and one-way operation of relationship direction centered around offspring individuals.Research has found that as a form of individualistic practice,“lying flat” is a cultural practice in the process of Chinese individualism.It involves the utilization and reorganization of traditional family culture as the cultural toolbox,recombining the cultural path of the traditional self in Guanxi with the concept of independent individuals inspired by consumerism.This creative restructuring results in a new individual culture of autonomous individuals within the context of Guanxi.A typological theoretical framework for the individualized practice of Chinese youth reflected by “lying flat” is developed based on the two dimensions:the degree of agency and the strength of structural/cultural constraints,presenting a complex continuum from active to passive individualization,contributing to the shaping of a new individual culture called “individuals with Guanxi”.Through this phenomenon,one can observe the changes in the relationship between individuals and families.