Strangers in the City: Reconfigurations of Space, Power, and Social Networks Within China's Floating Population
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With rapid commercialization, a booming urban economy, and the relaxation of state migratory policies, over 100 million peasants, known as China’s “floating population,” have streamed into large cities seeking employment and a better life. This book traces the profound transformation this massive flow of rural migrants has caused as it challenges Chinese socialist modes of state control. Library Journal Zhang (anthropology, Univ. of California, Davis)has reworked her dissertation into a readable though still scholarly study of China's "floating population," i.e., the one million peasants from Chinese rural areas who have "floated" into urban areas to form a workforce that has changed the dynamics of Chinese society, commerce, and power relations. Arguing that such changes symbolize post-Mao China's move toward democracy, Zhang centers her study around the largest migrant community who moved to Beijing from rural Wenzhou, establishing themselves in 48 large compounds. She explores the ways their leaders build power bases by controlling the market space and carefully details the many challenges they face, such as discrimination, crime, and governmental harassment. Background on China's system of household registry and some knowledge about migration within the country are needed to understand this study fully. Most suitable for academic libraries. Kitty Chen Dean, Nassau Community Coll., Garden City, NY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
List of IllustrationsIntroduction11The Floating Population as Subjects232Commercial Culture, Social Networks, and Migration Passages473The Privatization of Space694The Privatization of Power915Reconfigurations of Gender, Work, and Household1156Contesting Crime and Order1377The Demolition of Zhejiangcun1598Displacement and Revitalization186Conclusion202AppNotes on the Conditions and Politics of Fieldwork213Notes217Glossary231References243Index267
