The extended family as a societal unit are becoming far less important to the individual members in the family,and to the society as a whole. Such an evolution of familial relationships andtheir functions in the human society is evidenced by the change of laws inrelation to families and the rising of individualism in the modern times.
Both the west and the east have seen areceding of the importance of familiar relations since the first and secondindustrial revolution, although such shifts took place at different historicaltimes for the two main cultures. When agriculture was the prevailing way ofliving for mankind, families as natural support and collaborative units is anecessity. Yet when mass production as the hall mark of an industrial world becamethe norm, the organizational pattern by families in a society is reshuffled.
The west underwent such seismic changesahead of other parts of the earth and saw the rising of individualism, whichled to an ever-shrinking family size as people no longer rely on their familyto gain a place in the society. English laws that used to dictate that a personpass on inheritance only to the next kin, as opposed to whoever he wills tobenefit, have been changed to respect personal wishes as to how to distribute one’swealth, with the exception of titles. Moreover, the momentous development intransportation and the advent of internet have facilitated the mobility acrosscountries, continents and even classes, therefore people are able to reach farout of their family for connections and company. The extended family and eventhe direct family of a person, is playing a much lessor role in his life interms of community support and status validation.
In the far east, familial associationsduring the agricultural ages took even greater preeminence as Confucians’teachings, which emphasizes obeisance and deference to family elderlyauthorities like none other philosophies, underpinned the governing and themoral codes of the Asian societies. Even the laws in many dynasties tied uppeople’s fate by their last name, by stipulating that one family member’s sinwould bear on the entire family of a large radius extending from the centralmember. Yet the breaking up of big family bundles took place in such a richsoil of family culture when industrial revolutions eventually broke out.Especially with the permeation of western liberalism through the ever biggeropening of China, voluntarily or not, fortified by the informationtechnologies, individualism is also sweeping across the country and shaking upthousands of years’ tradition in family-oriented culture.
The extended family that once functions asthe social foundation and community circle of a person, has become no more thannatural ties and connections taking just a part of his entire supportstructure, thanks to the intermixing and fluidity across old boundaries broughtby technology advancement and the change in mode of production. The trend ofincreasing awareness of personal choices and individual rights has also enhancedthe role of individual members of the society, which in the mean time to someextent diminishes the influence and importance of the family.
