Seminar paper

   During the fall of my senior year, I took Human Rights in Asian Contexts (AS 397) with Professor Katherine Tegtmeyer Pak. In the course, we explored human rights deep diving into the morality behind Pakistan burn victims to the role of international actors. Studying from all angles, we engaged in enriching conversations while unpacking ethical thoughts using universalist and relativist lens.

 

   When it came to our final research paper, I decided to write about Chinese rural mothers. In particular, I focused on their ethics behind their decision to migrate. You can read me essay here. 

 

Abstract: 

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   At the system level, China’s hùkǒu or household registration system violates two key
human rights: mobility and state protection. This discriminatory system restricts human
movement and reinforces generational poverty. In an attempt to break out of this cyclical
poverty, Chinese rural families, particularly, mothers face a moral dilemma: to either stay or
migrate for their children’s future. Some mothers choose to migrate away from their children,
while others stay in their rural villages. For new rural Chinese mothers, which option is the
morally optimal choice? Using a Chinese good mother concept, some argue that the greater the
sacrifice the more women uphold their moral obligations, therefore, new mothers should migrate.
Understanding that morality as communal, I argue that Confucian concept of parental obligations
further supports the women’s choice to leave. To address the question of autonomy, I use a
communal agency approach. Within this framework, these women’s choices depend on external
factors such as family obligations and societal expectations. Confucian role ethics also affirm
that migration is the morally optimal choice. This paper concludes that these women’s choice to
leave their children behind is the morally optimal choice, because they are able to better fulfill
their parental obligations.

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