The Transformation, Adaptation, and Self-Identity of New Urban Migrants

As a result of the development of the social economy, China is currently urbanizing at an unprecedented rate: a particular social group with an extremely large number of members is in the process of being involuntarily peeled away from the traditional, agricultural mode of production. These people have to face an unfamiliar life in the city and constitute a subset within the social group of new urban migrants—landless rural residents. Because landless rural residents have a unique self-identity, this article was based upon two related presuppositions: first, landless rural residents possess the characteristics of peasants; their social memories of the past and the temporal and spatial transformation of their personal experiences in modern society could potentially influence and restrict the depth and development of their self-identification with their status. Second, as with urban residents, the status of landless rural residents is externally recognized by the household registration system; however, stat...