Based on in-depth fieldwork investigations and extensive interviews, this article demonstrates that adjudication has replaced mediated reconciliation and become the dominant way of handling seriously contested divorce petitions in contemporary China. Specifically, for first-time petitions,...

The high and rising divorce rate in China is not easily reconciled with traditional theories that emphasize the role of modernization in changing family life. By reformulating the state social engineering theory, this paper argues that the retreat of the state from private life has contributed...