Negotiating the Traditional Self : Chinese Immigrants in Finland on the Norm of Filial Piety and Eldercare

The present research explores the status of the Chinese traditional norm of Filial piety among the Chinese immigrants living in Finland. During the past decades, the quintessential place of the norm in Chinese family and society is believed to be challenged and in decline along such macro changes in structural and policy terms such as the economic transformation, urbanization, Individualization and demographic changes. Its constitutive role in the traditional Chinese eldercare model where adult children take major responsibility in providing support and care for their elderly parents in the family setting makes it necessary to have nuanced pictures with a micro-scale examination of individuals’ interaction with the norm in their particular circumstances. Taking careful notes of individuals’ subjective configuration of their relation with family and society, it presents the ethical, emotive weightiness of the norm for the self-constructed individuals, as well as its implications in their practical life. While resources have been drawn from 20 interviews conducted with respondents of different age cohort, the born-post-80s and singles were paid special attention. It further suggests that it is such 'unlost tradition' that promises their 'mobility' and 'independence' in the risk society and creates their paradoxical position of being both 'tied to' and 'cut from' their family