From Rural Labor to Urban Immigrant: Two Narratives and Approaches in Chinese Domestic Migration Study

Abstract

The narrative of rural labor was formed under the scenario of China’s urban-rural dual social structure with certain limitations and bias. This paper reviews the domestic migration studies from both China and other countries and proposes to use the narrative and approach of urban immigrant instead of rural labor. Urban immigration should be seen as a process of social development led by the integration of urban immigrant and finally leading to the deconstruction of rural-urban duality. The change of narrative and approach from rural labor to urban immigrant has certain theoretical and countermeasure significance for understanding the process of population migration and urbanization in China.