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Family‐based food practices and their intergenerational geographies in contemporary Guangzhou, China
Author(s) -
Liu Chen
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
transactions of the institute of british geographers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.196
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1475-5661
pISSN - 0020-2754
DOI - 10.1111/tran.12178
Subject(s) - china , sociology , limiting , gender studies , space (punctuation) , economic geography , geography , archaeology , mechanical engineering , linguistics , philosophy , engineering
Social geography research on familial spaces and intimate relations has generated valuable literatures on parenting and grand‐parenting in modern nuclear families. However, the complex intergenerational relations and geographies of multi‐generational households remain under‐researched, limiting geographers’ understanding of familial spatialities. This paper reports on research exploring intergenerational relationships through the lens of family‐based food practices in temporary three‐generational households of Guangzhou, the largest city in south China. It draws on five case studies with Xiaokang (middle‐level) households. It examines how intergenerational relations are performed through everyday food practices, exploring their geographies in terms of both domestic space and wider family geographies. The key arguments suggest that domestic spaces are significant to cultural transmission and transition and emotional communication across generations, and key sites for intergenerational segregation and integration.