“断亲”为何?--试论中国人际关系的变迁

Why“Kinship Disconnection”?--On the Change of Interpersonal Relationship in China

当前中国社会出现的断亲现象,理论上可区分为宏观意义上的一般性解释、中层意义上的跨文化以及社会学本土化中的“关系性”解释。从人情与面子的研究框架出发予以审视,以往的各种理论均倾向于从社会结构角度解释这一现象,即认为“断亲”是由工业化、城市化、市场化所引发的社会流动导致的个体化结果。而人情与面子的研究框架则将此种社会现象指向行动主体的主观意图,即如果一个人的地方社会网络能够给其带来充沛的社会资源,那么他不会采取“断亲”行为;当一个人从其原有的地方网络中无法获得他所要的社会资源,或此资源已派不上用场时,其依附性便随之消失。但这并不意味着关系本身不再重要,因为现代性社会生活会使人们在自己的生活或事业领域重建自己的社会网络,“断亲”只是表示与旧有的亲属网络不再发生联系。

For the phenomenon of“kinship disconnection”in Chinese society,we can theoretically distinguish the general explanation in macro significance and the explanation of interpersonal relationship in cross-cultural and sociological indigenous approach in the middle sense.Based on the research framework of“favor and face”,this paper argues that previous theories tend to explain this phenomenon from the perspective of social structure,that is,“kinship disconnection”is an individualized result caused by industrialization,urbanization and marketization.However,the research framework of“favor and face”prefers to the subjective intention of the agencies,and points out that if a person’s local social network can bring abundant social resources to him,he will not cut off his ties;when a person cannot obtain the social resources in his original local network,or those resources are useless for him,he will cut off his ties.But this does not mean that the relationship is no longer important,because modern life will enable him to rebuild a new social networks in his own lives or careers,and the phenomenon of“kinship disconnection”only means that there is no longer a connection with the traditional network.