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M iao migrants to S hanghai: Multilocality, invisibility and ethnicity
Author(s) -
Tapp Nicholas C.T.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
asia pacific viewpoint
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.571
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1467-8373
pISSN - 1360-7456
DOI - 10.1111/apv.12072
Subject(s) - ethnic group , kinship , social connectedness , gender studies , invisibility , sociology , geography , political science , anthropology , psychology , social psychology , physics , optics
This paper reports on a recent research project into rural–urban labour migrants in S hanghai, C hina, who are members of ethnic minorities, inquiring into the role of ethnicity in national labour migration. It introduces some of the main features of the ethnic nationalities ( minzu ) in C hina and considers some of the literature on rural–urban migration in C hina which may be considered as relevant to ethnicity. The case of a M iao minority family in Shanghai is described in detail to argue that what remains important to them in the city is not their formal ethnic affiliation ( minzu ) so much as a sub‐ethnic identity of connectedness and intimacy, importantly related to kinship and place.