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Leftover Women in China offers an intimate empirical and theoretical analysis of the lived experience and legal consciousness of China's "leftover women," women who remain unmarried in their late twenties and beyond. Drawing on in-depth interviews and focus groups, Qian Liu examines how leftover women—including women who prefer to remain single, those who are waiting for the right husband, and queer women—deal with parental and social pressures, as well as the denial of their right to have children outside of heterosexual marriage. Sensitively exploring the distinctive patterns of parent-child interactions in Chinese families, Liu invites readers to understand leftover women's observance, evasion, and manipulation of the law in the context of intergenerational relationships and obligations.
Qian Liu is Assistant Professor of Law and Society in the Department of Sociology at the University of Calgary.
"Leftover Women in China gives voice to women who do not or cannot get married in China, showing how they come from diverse walks of life and are thus differently affected by laws and policies on birth, marriage, and sexuality. By centering the profound role of intergenerational relationships in these women's lives, the book breaks new ground in the study of legal consciousness."—Lynette J. Chua, author of The Politics of Rights and Southeast Asia
"Qian Liu has written a terrific study of China's so-called leftover women. Drawing on women's stories, including her own, she shows that their lives and family relationships are shaped both by law and by the concept of suzhi, which purports to determine people's 'quality.' For some, the state's restrictions on childbearing for single women and on same-sex marriage represent insuperable barriers, but for others they are mere formalities that can be ignored, circumvented, or even manipulated to their advantage. Liu's explanations are fascinating, often counterintuitive, and always persuasive."—David Engel, author of The Myth of the Litigious Society: Why We Don't Sue
"Leftover Women in China is a captivating examination of the legal consciousness of 'leftover women.' Through an intimate look at their marriage and childbearing choices amid China's evolving family dynamics, Liu introduces a groundbreaking theory of relation-based legal consciousness, which will have significant impact on sociolegal studies, legal anthropology, and gender and family research."—Sida Liu, coauthor of Criminal Defense in China: The Politics of Lawyers at Work
"Rich ethnographic and interview data from so-called leftover women across the spectrum of sexual orientation, as well as many of their parents, inform Liu's beautifully written book about why and how some Chinese daughters succumb to parental pressure to marry while others resist. As China's marriage and fertility rates plummet, this book makes a timely contribution to the fields of law and society, marriage and family, and gender."—Ethan Michelson, author of Decoupling: Gender Injustice in China's Divorce Courts
234 pp.5.5 x 8.5
9780520423077$95.00|£80.00Hardcover
Aug 2025