ABSTRACT
In academic and policy discussions the social development aspects of labour migration in China tend to be eclipsed by more dominant economic concerns and paradigms. Migrants are often viewed as economic labourers rather than as complex social beings. Migrants are perceived to belong to a homogenous economic group or stratum, referred to in Chinese as dagongzu, rather than recognised as heterogeneous individuals who participate in various social relationships. Migration is seen as a low-cost way to generate remittances which alleviate interand intra-regional inequalities. Yet these costs are only low if counted in economic terms. The social costs are far greater and are more difficult to tally. Urbanisation too tends to beviewed throughan economic lens of development andmodernisation rather than as a process that necessitates social inclusion and the extension of social welfare services to new settlers. Relatedly, housing for migrants is seen mainly in terms of providing infrastructure for labourers rather than offering places in which human beings can maintain social relationships and feel security and emotional belonging. In this volume we aim to redress the relative neglect of social concerns by incorporating them into our exploration of salient aspects of the relationship between migration and development.
