Migrant-Worker "Intergenerational Relationships"

Abstract

Based on research in a labor-intensive enterprise, this study discusses the differences between new and old migrant workers. One consists of the choice of, and attitude toward "flow-backs" (hui liu) and "switching jobs" (zhuan gong) on the part of new and old migrant workers. The authors maintain that "flow-backs" and "switching jobs" are the different means by which the new and old generation of migrant workers face future developments and handle opportunities that enable them to make subjective choices. Implied behind these opportunities are the migrant workers' different self-realization requirements, displacement strategies, and different perspectives on urban and rural life. Another concerns the self-categorization process of the new and old generation of migrant worker groups—in other words, how these groups have undergone subjective divisions due to differences in concepts and choices. By analyzing the mutual evaluations, delimitations, interactions, and even conflicts among them, a clearer understanding is obtained of the process of the new replacing the old within migrant worker groups.