Embracing city life: physical activities and the social integration of the new generation of female migrant workers in urban China

Abstract

ABSTRACT Drawing on empirical data from interviews with young Chinese female rural–urban migrant workers in the Pearl River Delta of China’s Guangdong province, this article explores the ways in which physical activities help to fulfil the ‘urban dream’ of this new generation of female migrant workers and promote their social integration. The article demonstrates that physical activities exert their influence and facilitate the young female migrant workers’ social integration into cities through four dimensions: ‘space’, ‘network’, ‘identity’ and ‘image’. Participating in sport and exercise expands the scale of workers’ living spaces and contributes to building social networks and self-identification. It also enhances female migrant workers’ individualistic values, as opposed to family-oriented ones. These new values allow them to enjoy recreational life and to change the stereotypical image of rural–urban migrant workers.