Temporary migration in Shanghai and Beijing

Migration in a Socialist Transitional Economy: Heterogeneity, Socioeconomic and Spatial Characteristics of Migrants in China and Guangdong Province

The peculiar features of China's socialist transitional economy, including the coexistence of “plan” and “nonplan” mechanisms, the hukou institution, uneven spatial development, and gendered constraints and opportunities, have brought about a high degree of heterogeneity among population movements. Using the 1990 Census data on reasons for migration, and an empirical analysis of both national patterns and migration in Guangdong, I document the socioeconomic characteristics and spatial patterns of major types of migration, focusing on migration for employment in industry and business, male migration due to job transfer, and female marriage migration. I argue that the multitude of migration types, and the contrasts among them, are products of the combination of state-planning and market mechanisms. The findings highlight institutional explanations for migration, and show that the “plan”-“nonplan” dichotomy is more meaningful than the economic-social dichotomy for understanding population movements in China.

Urban Residentship and Return Migration to Shanghai in the Aftermath of the Cultural Revolution

Young people were sent to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution and were later allowed to return home in the 1970s. This paper examines the return migration of Chinese youth from the countryside based on officially sanctioned reasons and grounds. The most often used reasons or grounds were in fact claims to urban residentship arising from connections to the city by previous residence, by birth and by family. Claimants negotitated with the state in a cultural language which rationalizes the claimed needs in terms of traditional social codes. The study reveals that the passive and submissive image the Chinese civil society outwardly present is deceptive. Their claims, however, still fall short of modern social citizenship.