Program Results

Introduction to the event

Conference Overview

The international conference De-institutionalization of Asian Families was held on June 11–12, 2025. It brought together 22 leading scholars and drew a total audience of 124 participants. Through keynote addresses, panel discussions, and intensive scholarly exchanges, the conference examined how modernization, globalization, and individualization are reshaping marriage and family institutions across Asia.

Intellectual Contributions

The conference addressed significant gaps in current research by:

1.Presenting new empirical evidence and introducing innovative data sources.

2.Advancing cross-country comparative perspectives and employing multi-method approaches.

3.Revisiting and interrogating the de-institutionalization thesis, arguing that Asia’s family and marriage patterns differ fundamentally from those in the West.

Presenters highlighted how economic, political, social, and cultural transformations unfold under conditions of compressed modernity, producing the dynamic coexistence of historical and modern social elements. The discussions evaluated how family institutions—whether rooted in patriarchal, gendered hierarchies or bilateral kinship systems—have been reconfigured, and what continuities persist, amid global forces of modernization and individualization.

Key Themes and Theoretical Advances

The conference underscored Asia’s diversity, noting uneven economic development, different kinship structures, female headship, and migration patterns. It illuminated how global forces intersect with local norms to drive family change and how lived experiences and agency shape these transformations. By synthesizing these insights, the conference refined and extended existing frameworks of family change, offering a fresh vantage point for theorizing family diversity worldwide.

Follow-up and Lasting Impact

The conference sparked strong enthusiasm among participants. Building on this momentum, Dr. Lake Lui (guest editor), together with Puk and Adam Cheung (co-editors), submitted a proposal for a Special Issue to Demographic Research to consolidate and disseminate the conference’s intellectual advances.

By generating new evidence, fostering international collaboration, and setting in motion a high-impact special issue, the De-institutionalization of Asian Families conference has advanced theoretical debates on family change and deepened global understanding of the dynamics of Asian family transformations. Its outcomes will continue to inform comparative research and shape scholarly agendas in family demography and related disciplines.