Three Types of Social Integration Status among Children of Migrant Workers in China: Scenes of Superiority of City Residents, Co-Existence of Urban Culture and Rural Hometown Culture, and Weak Social Capital under Strong Policy Discourse

Abstract

Based on surveys and field work conducted in District C of Beijing City, the author identifies migrant children’s social assimilation obstacles according to distinct school types: each school type offers different quality educational resources and is composed of migrant students at different socioeconomic levels. The survey data show that migrant children with relatively low cultural capital and social capital are more concentrated in private and self-run schools. Field work also shows migrant children in public schools encounter a major social assimilation barrier through school culture, which privileges urban culture and marginalizes rural culture; private school students experience both urban and rural hometown cultures; and self-run schools illuminate the stark contrast between policy rhetoric and the marginal status of migrant youths. In investigating the social assimilation of migrant workers and their children in Chinese cities, we should question the homogeneity of the “migrant children” group. Rather than modifying the U.S.-based social assimilation theory that is based on ethnic group differences, we should focus on the Chinese-specific, cultural, and systemic differences among migrant children subgroups.

Keywords:

• hometown civilization
• migrant children
• policy discourse
• social assimilation
• urban sense of superiority

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author would like to thank the experts and students who participated in the original data collection for this study. They are Professors Fan Xiuli and Feng Yue and graduate students Wang Hongli, Li Ruoya, and Wang Hui of Capital Normal University, and Professor Luo Yun and graduate student Yao Man of Renmin University of China. The author would like to thank all of the teachers and students from Zhenli Elementary, Limin School, and Weiwei School who participated in this study.

Notes

There are many names for this group such as “floating children,” “workers’ children,” “migrant children,” and “transient students,” which correspond to different connotations, extensions, and policy presuppositions. For more discussion see Qian and Quzhen (2015).

Due to academic ethics, I have changed the names of districts, schools, and relevant teachers, students, and parents.

The same as Dean Wang above. But, at that time, Wang was class head teacher and had not yet been promoted to Dean Wang in charge of education.

Refers to another school run by the operators of Weiwei School.

Additional information

Funding

This study was a staged study result of the National Social Science Fund project “Humanities Research on the Cultural Assimilation Education of Migrant Worker Children” (Project no.: 15BSH062).

Notes on contributors

Liu Qian

Liu Qian is an associate professor at the School of Sociology, Theory, and Methodology Research Center, Institute of Anthropology, Renmin University of China.