Description:

Speaker: Yifan Mao

Title: Reshaping Social Relations without Changing Social Norms

Abstract: Social norms often undermine state efforts to empower women: practices like child marriage and genital cutting persist despite being outlawed. These norms remain deeply entrenched and resistant to intervention. This research asks: Can the state reshape social relations and promote women’s rights without first dismantling these norms? A crucial yet overlooked factor is the structure of the state itself: How does the degree of centralization influence the interaction between the state and women, as well as the implementation of policies aimed at their empowerment? Drawing on divorce legislation in 1950s China, this research finds that a more centralized state—distanced from local biases—was more effective in challenging traditional norms and bringing social reforms.  Paradoxically, decentralization, which brought the state apparatus closer to women, did not improve their welfare.