老親扶養からみたラオス低地農村部における親子関係の一考察(<特集>親子のつながり-人類学における親族/家族研究再考)
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概要
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Previous studies of the parent-child relationship have mainly focused on the process of parents caring for their young children. Meanwhile, with health transition and longevity extension occurring worldwide, it is more important than ever before for anthropological studies of family and kinship to reexamine the parent-child relationship through the study of the support by adult children give their aging parents. As one attempt of such a project, this paper aims to describe the relationship between aging parents and adult children in a lowland village in Laos. Though the support of aging parents in the village is based on filiations, it fails to completely explain the practices of aging parent support and care themselves, as well as their relationships. As described in chapter two, marriage is one life stage that leads adult children to build different lives from those of their parents as a family cycle process. Depending on their position, children carry out the division of labor and/or cooperation of the various activities in their vocations and lifestyle, and get involved with their parents accordingly. That eventually builds up the relationship between siblings, and also becomes a form of supporting aging parents. During that process, people's daily lives, aging parent support, and the basis of living overlap in many areas. However, with socio-economic conditions in Laos having changed drastically since the 1980s, village life and the course of villagers' lives have also changed gradually. Such a transformation may cause similar effects on the typical ways that adult children support their aging parents. In order to examine the possibility of such a transformation, chapter three focuses on young women, who tend to go search for temporary work in Thailand, or want to go to college or university for further study. The young generation in Laos can now choose from a variety of life paths. In addition, people in village society have recently come to need and expect cash income. However, villagers still support their aging parents, and that creates standard forms of support that are also applicable to the recent life choices typically made by villagers (such as emigrating or going on to higher education). At the other extreme, the life style changes they face nowadays-either overt or latent-always have the potential to create a gap between standard forms of supporting aging parents and the foundation of such forms. Based on the above description, finally, the concept of "care" can be useful in understanding the way aging parents are supported in rural areas in lowland Laos, and the process by which it changes.
- 2011-03-31