How Migrant Labor is Changing Rural China (Cambridge Modern China Series)
Cambridge University Press, 9/19/2002
EAN 9780521005302, ISBN10: 0521005302
Paperback, 306 pages, 22.8 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm
Language: English
One of the most dramatic and noticeable changes in China since the introduction of economic and social reforms in the early 1980s has been the mass migration of peasants from the countryside to urban areas across the country. Murphy's in-depth fieldwork in rural China offers a rich basis for her findings about the impact of migration on many aspects of rural life: inequality; the organization of agricultural production; land transfers; livelihood diversification; spending patterns; house-building; marriage; education; the position of women; social stability; and state-society relations. Her analysis focuses on the human experiences and strategies that precipitate shifts in national and local policies for economic development, and the responses of migrants, non-migrants, and officials to changing circumstances, obstacles and opportunities. This pioneering study is rich in original source materials and anecdotes, as well as useful, comparative examples from other developing countries.
Introduction
1. Values, goals and resources
2. China, Jiangxi and the fieldwork counties
3. Resource redistribution and inequality
4. Migration, remittances and goals
5. Recruiting returnees to build enterprises and towns
6. The enterprises and the entrepreneurs
7. Entrepreneurs, socio-economic change, and interactions with the state
8. Returning home with heavy hearts and empty pockets
Conclusion.