How Migrant Labor is Changing Rural China

Abstract

One of the most dramatic and noticeable changes in China since the introduction of economic and social reforms in the early 1980s has been the mass migration of peasants from the countryside to urban areas across the country. 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. Her analysis focuses on the human experiences and strategies that precipitate shifts in national and local policies for economic development, and the responses of migrants, non-migrants, and officials to changing circumstances, obstacles and opportunities. This pioneering study is rich in original source materials and anecdotes, as well as useful, comparative examples from other developing countries.

Protecting Mobile Livelihoods

“…Livelihood studies, unlike the conventional negative conceptualization of migration as caused by devastating events, such as natural disasters and civil strife, emphasizes the positive linkages between migration and development in terms of livelihood diversification and poverty reduction with a particular focus on the role of remittances (Cai, 2003;Li, 2001;Murphy, 2002Murphy, , 2009bUNDP, 2009). Migration in this approach is considered a rural household strategy and manifestation of individual agency (see Bebbington, 2000;Ellis and H. Ade, 2004;Zhang, et al, 2006).…”

The Caring State? On Rural Welfare Governance in Post-reform Vietnam and China

“…Besides, rural migrants often have to return to the countryside to secure educational and health services because of their restricted access to urban services (Murphy 2014;Nguyen 2015a). Thus while migration has become an important means to ensure rural households' well-being, it also induces further insecurity and risks (Murphy 2002;Nguyen 2015a). If the market economy has enabled massive wealth accumulation for certain groups, most rural people have been disproportionately affected by such processes of dispossession and devaluation for the sake of market development.…”

A Quantitative and Theoretical Analysis of Ghana’s Internal Migration, Economic Growth and poverty Reduction: A Disaggregated Approach, from 1980 to 2012*

“…At this juncture, public expenditure on social and economic infrastructure like education, health, transport, communication, waste disposal, electricity, water and sanitation can make a payment to the show of the economy and hence reducing poverty and internal migration in Ghana. Murphy (2002) notes that internal migration has made major contributions to development, by accelerating economic growth, building up cities and establishing rural-urban linkages and return flows.…”