Education as Community Mobilization: Minjian Society and the Education of Migrant Children in China

Abstract

Grassroots migrant organizations, especially schools serving migrant children, function as centers of collective action which address the needs of the community and counter the deficit notions of migrant students and their families, by illuminating the powerful ways that migrant teachers and students utilize various forms of community cultural wealth. Situating in the context of migrant communities’ social and political struggles in urban cities, this article aims to demonstrate the mobilization in China’s migrant communities as teachers and activists work to provide educational opportunities for migrant children and to explore the ways in which their actions changed community members’ perceptions of who they are, what they can do, and how they can do it.

Notes

1 Left-behind children are children of migrant workers who remain in rural regions of China while their parents leave to work in urban areas. For more information, see Ye and Pan (2011).

2 It is important to note that there are different degrees of civil society as it pertains to different social or political issues in China. For example, there is much more support, or tolerance, from the state for NGOs to discuss issues on gender, and the All-China Women's Federation, one of the largest government-organized non-governmental organizations (GONGO), is responsible for promoting government policies on women and involving in social transformation to promote women’s overall status and welfare in society. The issues of environmental justice, as many examples discussed in Ho and Edmonds (2008), have been an area of focus for NGOs that monitored and organized mainly by social or academic elites. These NGOs are allowed to exercise their citizen rights and duties and have play major roles in bringing awareness to China's pressing environmental problems. However, such space was soon constrained, especially after the 2008 tragic earthquake when it increasingly becomes a “political” problem. Similarly, for issues concerning migrant population, when those who advocate for migrants’ rights/benefits, including migrants’ own voices, turned louder in the first decade of the 21st century, they have increasingly become the target of suppression. Although it is beyond the scope of this article to fully engage in the discussion regarding what are the “tipping points” of the tightening or relaxation of civil society space in contemporary China, it is important to consider that civil society in China, which to some degree is outside of the direct control of the state, is still a fluid space.

3 For example, migrant woman Fan Yusu writes about her life and struggles as a migrant and a woman. She attended the literary group and her writing reflects the themes and activities discussed in the writers’ workshop. For more information, see https://madeinchinajournal.com/2020/05/07/proletarian-nora-discussing-fan-yusu/

4 The Foxconn Suicides are referred to a series of suicides committed by young migrant workers who worked in Foxconn-owned locations and facilities in China. The main cause was the inhuman working conditions in these factories including military-like management, controlling every aspect of workers' lives, excessive working hours with no compensation for overtime, etc. For more information, see https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/18/foxconn-life-death-forbidden-city-longhua-suicide-apple-iphone-brian-merchant-one-device-extract