ABSTRACT
Modernity has never been a single unified entity as its convergent forces and processes have been unleashed across the world (Deshpande 2003: 29). The zanryū-hōjin families and individuals have led their lives in the Sino-Japanese transnational space – a market situation within and between rural China and cosmopolitan Japan, where the control by the two nation-states is blurred. Whilst resources can be tapped in this space, these rural migrants face a mixture of rules, barriers, and uncertainties. How have these migrants transformed in this space that provides them with a mixture of rules/resources, barriers/strategies, and freedom/uncertainties? How and what modernity have they gained? To answer these questions, we must measure three significant areas – transnationalization, roots, and negotiations, which this book has aimed to explore.
