How Migrant Labor is Changing Rural China (Cambridge Modern China Series)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: October 7, 2002
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 306
ISBN-13: 9780521005302
Subjects: Asian studies; Immigration & emigration; Labour economics; POLITICS & GOVERNMENT; Politics/International Relations; Migrant labor; Political Science; Politics / Current Events; ASIA; China; South East Asia; Labor & Industrial Relations - General; Political Science / General; History & Theory - General
First sentence: In order to examine how labor migration and return flows are changing the Chinese countryside, I conducted seventeen months of fieldwork in China.
Description: "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. She investigates the little-studied phenomenon of entrepreneurship by returned migrants, their contribution to rural industrialization and rural town construction, and their role in political lobbying.

Her analysis focuses on the human experiences and strategies that precipitate shifts in national and local policies for economic development; she also examines the responses of migrants, nonmigrants, and officials to changing circumstances, obstacles, and opportunities. This pioneering study is rich in original source materials and anecdotes and also offers useful, comparative examples from other developing countries."--Jacket.