Surviving in “Localistic Communitas”: Endogenous Multicultural Community Organizing among Migrant Workers in Post-Socialist China

Abstract

ABSTRACT Based on 5 months of ethnographic fieldwork and 43 in-depth interviews with villagers of T Township, the author uncovers an emerging approach of endogenous multicultural community practice in the cities where the villagers have migrated to work. Cadres and villagers transplant their localistic networks to the new urban contexts while transforming hierarchical and clientelistic personal ties into more horizontal relations of comradeship. Through these redefined ties, they manage to transcend the persisting boundaries of village units, class status, and lineage institutions that segment the rural society, and succeed in mobilizing community resources to fight for urban survival and social justice. Although neither community service nor the social work profession is fully institutionalized in contemporary China, innovative organizing is appearing in grassroots communities in response to sweeping social changes. This article draws academic attention to these community practices and discusses their implications for the future development of strength-based social work and social services in post-socialist China.