In the first issue of 2025 “Academia Bimestris,” Wu Xiaoying notes that since 2010, family sociology in China has entered a new phase of flourishing. The key research topics can be broadly categorized into two directions: families in the context of social change, and society viewed through the lens of the family. The central focus lies in exploring how modernity and family dynamics mutually shape each other within a transforming society.
Moreover, the continuous enrichment and diversification of family research are reflected in the coexistence of multiple research paradigms. These can be summarized as the individualist paradigm and the familist paradigm. The primary distinction between these paradigms lies in their differing starting points for interpreting the concept of family—whether from an ideological or a practical perspective—and their contrasting assumptions about whether familism should be viewed as a “temporary measure” or an “ethical imperative.” This suggests that each paradigm may need to define its own specific conditions and contexts of applicability, in order to form a comprehensive research framework.