How did the social and political restructuring of post-revolutionary China influence the daily lives and family dynamics of its urban citizens? Ruth Sidel, a sociologist and expert on social policy, examines the transformation of Chinese society during the early 1970s. By analyzing the shift from traditional structures to the communal systems established under the People's Republic, she argues that the state successfully integrated individual family units into a broader, collective social framework.

Scholars and sociologists frequently cite this work as a significant primary account of urban social organization during the Cultural Revolution era. Readers note the descriptive, observational nature of the prose, which provides a window into a period of Chinese history that was largely inaccessible to Western observers at the time.