Abstract:This article develops a critical investigation of the recent emergence of migrant worker museums (MWMs) in Chinese cities. Though studies on migrant workers in urban China have examined in detail the state and popular discourses that construct migrants as uncivilized and inferior, limited attention has been dedicated to a more recent line of discursive formulation, which idealizes and romanticizes migrant workers as docile, hard-working subjects making laudable contribution to the development of postreform urb… Show more
“…They wore the word as a badge of pride or (C9) self‐sufficiency. This finding supports previous research on migrant workers who postulate a diligent self‐reliant worker identity, creating their own destiny, autonomous of government welfare programs, yet contributing to the neoliberal commercial economy (Qian & Guo, 2019). Juxtaposition, their Shanghainese counterparts look to socialist welfare programs when laid off, which can be seen as an obstacle for development and recovery from the pandemic.…”
Section: Resultssupporting
confidence: 89%
“…The notion of self‐sufficient survival is a legacy of their migration experience and further reinforces policies are inconsequential to their experience. Our data supports the notion that migrant entrepreneurs adapted or adjusted to urban political economy through diverse self‐reliant initiatives, rather than question the legitimacy of business support policies (Gleiss, 2016; Qian & Guo, 2019). My sister just went back home.…”
Section: Resultssupporting
confidence: 80%
“…In particular, participants believe such policies are legitimate but not for me because I am getihu by myself . We maintain this understanding is a legacy of hukou and is confirmed through the theory of validation: recognition through agreement with significant others including other entrepreneurs and family; corroboration with life experiences in Shanghai; and resonance of their migration story as self‐sufficient entrepreneurs surviving with their own capabilities (Gleiss, 2016; Qian & Guo, 2019). They have a degree of certainty their understanding is fact because it has been repeatedly validated through life experiences of a migrant lacking hukou in Shanghai.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 65%
“…This combined with apathy of using formal bank loans and the misconception about the intended beneficiary, further corroborates their belief. Remembering finally, that they are self‐sufficient migrant entrepreneurs (Qian & Guo, 2019), they result to surviving with their own capabilities, thus validating their belief via resonance.…”
COVID‐19 pandemic destroyed lives and the global economy, and in the wake left businesses struggling to re‐open in urban China. The Chinese party‐state implemented fiscal reforms targeted towards small businesses, however little research has evaluated business’ understanding of policies and implementation, particular to the focus on rural migrant entrepreneurs. Therefore, we conducted an ethnographic case study including in‐depth interviews to determine to what extent rural migrant micro‐entrepreneurs understand and adopt COVID‐19 business support policies at two retail markets in Shanghai amid a pandemic. Applying an inductive grounded theory approach, the data demonstrated participants believe policies are legitimate but not for me because I am getihu by myself. We maintain their understanding is a legacy of hukou and is confirmed through the theory of validation including recognition through agreement with significant others including other entrepreneurs and family; corroboration with life experiences in Shanghai; and resonance of their migration story as self‐sufficient entrepreneurs surviving with their own capabilities. They have a degree of certainty their understanding is fact because it has been repeatedly validated through life experiences of a migrant lacking hukou in Shanghai. The study encourages consideration for the migrant entrepreneur context and has important practical implications for policymakers.
“…They wore the word as a badge of pride or (C9) self‐sufficiency. This finding supports previous research on migrant workers who postulate a diligent self‐reliant worker identity, creating their own destiny, autonomous of government welfare programs, yet contributing to the neoliberal commercial economy (Qian & Guo, 2019). Juxtaposition, their Shanghainese counterparts look to socialist welfare programs when laid off, which can be seen as an obstacle for development and recovery from the pandemic.…”
Section: Resultssupporting
confidence: 89%
“…The notion of self‐sufficient survival is a legacy of their migration experience and further reinforces policies are inconsequential to their experience. Our data supports the notion that migrant entrepreneurs adapted or adjusted to urban political economy through diverse self‐reliant initiatives, rather than question the legitimacy of business support policies (Gleiss, 2016; Qian & Guo, 2019). My sister just went back home.…”
Section: Resultssupporting
confidence: 80%
“…In particular, participants believe such policies are legitimate but not for me because I am getihu by myself . We maintain this understanding is a legacy of hukou and is confirmed through the theory of validation: recognition through agreement with significant others including other entrepreneurs and family; corroboration with life experiences in Shanghai; and resonance of their migration story as self‐sufficient entrepreneurs surviving with their own capabilities (Gleiss, 2016; Qian & Guo, 2019). They have a degree of certainty their understanding is fact because it has been repeatedly validated through life experiences of a migrant lacking hukou in Shanghai.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 65%
“…This combined with apathy of using formal bank loans and the misconception about the intended beneficiary, further corroborates their belief. Remembering finally, that they are self‐sufficient migrant entrepreneurs (Qian & Guo, 2019), they result to surviving with their own capabilities, thus validating their belief via resonance.…”
COVID‐19 pandemic destroyed lives and the global economy, and in the wake left businesses struggling to re‐open in urban China. The Chinese party‐state implemented fiscal reforms targeted towards small businesses, however little research has evaluated business’ understanding of policies and implementation, particular to the focus on rural migrant entrepreneurs. Therefore, we conducted an ethnographic case study including in‐depth interviews to determine to what extent rural migrant micro‐entrepreneurs understand and adopt COVID‐19 business support policies at two retail markets in Shanghai amid a pandemic. Applying an inductive grounded theory approach, the data demonstrated participants believe policies are legitimate but not for me because I am getihu by myself. We maintain their understanding is a legacy of hukou and is confirmed through the theory of validation including recognition through agreement with significant others including other entrepreneurs and family; corroboration with life experiences in Shanghai; and resonance of their migration story as self‐sufficient entrepreneurs surviving with their own capabilities. They have a degree of certainty their understanding is fact because it has been repeatedly validated through life experiences of a migrant lacking hukou in Shanghai. The study encourages consideration for the migrant entrepreneur context and has important practical implications for policymakers.
“…However, these efforts are generally not focused on enhancing migrants’ urban citizenship position, but rather politicise migrants’ urban experiences to promote local or national political goals. See, for example, Qian and Guo () and Gleiss ().…”
While internal migration in contemporary China ascribes a great change to urban China's demographic composition, social structures and economic development trajectories, it is yet to restructure the formal definitions of urban identity and belonging, which are still dominated by the household registration system (hukou). The paper suggests that as a result of changes in the political, economic, demographic and social contexts within which China's internal migration develops, there emerge a crucial need to re‐examine the crude forms of determining identity and belonging, questioning the addressing of spatiality within the existing mechanisms (such as hukou system or the shiminhua discourse). To do so, the paper argues that the existing de‐territorialisation of the migration experience has to be replaced with a more nuanced understanding of how spatial practices and conceptualisations shape migrants’ experiences, as it is becoming imperative to develop a new framework that is more sensitive to migrants’ lived process of identification and belonging, especially as these traverse multiple geographies and spatial scales. This close engagement with migrants’ spatiality can then be used as a base from which to engage with a more complex view of migrants’ spatial and social relatedness, as well as the development of their urban belonging and identity.
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