This work investigates the shifting social and economic roles of women in rural China during the transition from collective farming to individual household production. Elisabeth Croll, a noted sociologist and anthropologist specializing in Chinese development, utilizes extensive fieldwork and demographic data to analyze how state policies and local traditions intersect. She argues that while economic reforms provided new opportunities for women, they simultaneously reinforced traditional patriarchal structures within the family unit.

Experts in Asian studies identify this text as a significant contribution to understanding the gendered dimensions of China's economic reforms. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which provides a rigorous look at the complexities of rural social change.