ABSTRACT
Situating within the context of migrant communities’ social and political struggles in urban Chinese cities, this chapter aims to demonstrate the mobilization in migrant communities as community members and activists work to provide educational opportunities for migrant children. Although excluded from the urban public realm for decades, migrant communities in China’s large urban cities never stopped their mobilization toward providing education for their children and making their voices heard. Grassroots migrant organizations function as centers of collective actions that address the needs of the community and counter the deficit notions of migrant children and their families, by illuminating the powerful ways that community members and activists utilize various forms of community cultural wealth. The spaces created as a result of the collective actions encouraged the formation of a sense of solidarity among migrant children, their families, as well as activists from outside the communities. These activities not only challenged the stereotypes of migrant children and their families but also provided opportunities to mobilize people from outside the communities to support migrant children’s education.
