Rural Hometowns Research Articles

Rising inequalities, deepening divides: Urban citizenship in the time of COVID‐19

As governments around the globe navigate the effects of COVID‐19 crisis, the urban poor endure the unevenly distributed socio‐economic impacts of the pandemic. This burden is more pronounced in Global South megacities, where millions of people engage in precarious informal employment. We examine how the urban poor in Delhi (India), Dhaka (Bangladesh), and Manila (Philippines) have been disproportionately affected by the crisis. A cross‐case analysis was undertaken to determine how the realities and relations of one context can enrich our understanding of the other. We argue that the current COVID‐19 pandemic has exposed the unequal urban citizenship in these three metropolises. Drawing on research reports, news articles, and interviews with urban poor leaders, we explain how limited government assistance has forced some to retreat to their rural hometowns or rely on self‐help and mutual aid practices to survive. We consider the patterns both in governments’ treatment of impoverished citizens and in the unjust effects of lockdown enforcement on marginalised populations. We also discuss the roles that women and non‐government organisations (NGOs) have played in facilitating solidarity‐based practices to help urban poor communities cope with COVID‐19 vulnerabilities.

City-Life No More? Young Adults’ Disrupted Urban Experiences and Their Digital Mediation under Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic temporarily, yet significantly, reshuffled the position, functions and (mediated) constructions of cities and urban places. The national lockdown, implemented by Austria on 16 March 2020, turned cities overnight from centres of hybrid cultural, economic, social, political life and power to places where urban life(styles) were put on hold. This article begins by presenting first key results of a longitudinal study with young adults studying in educational institutions in the state of Tyrol through the harshest country-wide lockdown measures and their gradual withdrawal. We analyse how participants coped with the disruption of their urban lives and lifestyles and the strategies they employed to compensate. We highlight three main insights. First, participants who had originally migrated to the city from their (often rural) hometowns largely returned to join their families. From there, no longer being an object of physical experience, the city became a digitally imagined, constructed and communicated place, reiterating public discourses that condemned the city as a place where lockdown measures were breached, and the virus spread unchecked. Second, where possible and adapted to the affordances of digital media, students shifted their previous lifestyles to digital space as well as created innovative ways of socialising digitally—thus producing alternative digital forms of urban lifestyles and digitally-mediated urban experiences. Third, during the lockdown period, the importance, use intensity as well as a variety of digital media peaked tremendously. This trend, however, was short-lived as yearned-for offline sociability largely returned to the city once measures were relaxed, leaving those in rural homes detached from their urban peers.

Toward Resilience: Medical Students' Perception of Social Support.

There is strong evidence that social support-particularly perceived social support-functions as a protective factor for health. Few studies have investigated how medical students perceive the types of social support they experience. To determine how osteopathic medical students perceive social support, understand the factors that influence their perceptions, and explore how group participation in a cocurricular, academic program could affect student perceptions. In this cross-sectional study of 983 medical students at a multicampus osteopathic medical school in the Midwest, potential respondents were invited by email in March 2018 to participate in a self-reported evaluation of their perceived social support using a 40-question Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL). The demographic variables included gender, race, age, current phase in medical school, Hispanic heritage, campus assignment, and hometown population type. A total score for each type of social support and a summative score for overall perceived social support were calculated. Descriptive statistics were applied to provide a summary of the distribution of study variables. Bivariate analyses were conducted using student t test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistic to determine distribution of 4 social support constructs and overall social support by all the study variables; α < .05 was considered statistically significant. Linear regression analysis was performed to determine the association between all study variables and 4 social support constructs. Pairwise interactions were calculated to determine whether the association differed by any of the study variables. Self-esteem support was the lowest type of perceived social support overall in the total sample (mean [SD], 23.5[2.0]). Hispanic students reported lower overall mean perceived social support than those who did not identify as Hispanic (100 vs 104; P=.04). Older study participants had higher mean tangible support compared with their younger counterparts (26.25 vs. 25.60, P=.018; t [264]=1.18). Older study participants also had higher mean appraisal support compared with their younger counterparts (26.57 vs. 25.92, P=.06; t [266]=1.27). Female medical students reported lower levels of belonging support overall (mean [SD] 26.79, [2.10]). Students from rural hometowns reported a higher sense of belonging support than any other group. Female students from suburban and urban hometowns reported lower levels of belonging support compared with women from rural hometowns (Adj. β=-0.96, P=.01). Students who participated in the rural and urban underserved program had higher self esteem support compared with those who did not participate in the rural and urban underserved program (Adj. β=-1.30, P=.05). Students in the clinical phase of medical education reported lower levels of belonging support than students in the preclinical phase (26.14 vs. 26.69, P=.05; t[256]=1.07). It is critical to understand the ways medical students experience social support and the factors that contribute to it. Longitudinal studies following medical students over time would contribute to a more complete understanding of social support in medical students as they move from preclinical to the clinical phases of medical school.

Exploiting the distance between conflicting norms: Female rural-to-urban migrant workers in Shanghai negotiating stigma around singlehood and marriage

On the basis of fieldwork conducted in Shanghai, this article explores how Chinese rural-to-urban migrant women cope with the stigmatization they face as a result of conflicting gender norms regarding singlehood and marriage in their home communities and in Shanghai. We focus on how migrant women legitimate their relationship status as single, married or having a boyfriend in relation to these norms. Our findings reveal that migrant women, while not rejecting existing norms outright, actively pre-empt or counteract the stigmatization of their singlehood or of the fact that they live apart from their husband using coping strategies that exploit their position in between the urban context and their rural hometowns in intricate ways.

Rural-to-urban migration in Vietnam: conceptualized youth’s vulnerabilities in the city

PurposeVietnam is experiencing high rates of young adult migration from rural hometowns to urban cities in search of new economic and social opportunities. However, limited internal migration research has examined the well-being of this population once they are in the urban destinations, as well as their interactions with the new lifestyles in the cities. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explore the social transition of young Vietnamese migrants into city life.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth interviews were conducted among ten female and six male temporary unmarried migrants, between ages of 18 and 25 years, currently living in Ha Noi through purposive sampling.FindingsDespite a higher income in the city, young migrants often suffer from physical and mental health strains that decrease their overall well-being, caused by the factors such as barriers to assimilation to new lifestyles, continued attachment to origin hometowns, financial pressures, and poor living conditions. Important aspects in pre-migration expectations and actual experiences influenced the psychosocial well-being of these young migrants as they transitioned into adulthood during their migration process. Migration to the city and assimilation into city life also changed young migrants’ views on lifestyles and behaviors often considered misconducts in their rural hometowns, such as premarital sex. Female migrants faced higher stigmatization compared to male migrants, often described by fellow migrants as becoming “loose” in the new city.Originality/valueThe study findings highlight the important gender-specific implications for health services and programs to improve young migrants’ well-being in the city.

Consumption Structure of Migrant Worker Families in China

AbstractThis study draws on a survey of migrants in 12 cities across four major urbanizing areas in China and investigates the structure of migrant worker families' urban and rural consumption. The results show that the structure of migrant worker families' consumption has been dominated by survival consumption. These families tend to live frugally in cities while engaging in conspicuous consumption in their rural hometowns. The structure of migrant worker families' consumption is mainly shaped by their income stability and wealth levels rather than their current income level. Moreover, migrant worker families with high educational levels and those who intend to settle permanently in cities are likely to allocate substantial expenditure to status and hedonic consumption and to upgrade their urban consumption structure.

An Investigation of the Depopulation in Northeastern Rural Regions of Japan Based on the Conjoint Analysis Modeling Approach

The aim of this work was to get some insight into the social model relying on the voluntary human relocation-generated depopulation in northeastern (Tohoku region) rural towns of Japan under the assumption that urban areas (big cities) function as attractor-type entities on young people. In order to achieve this purpose, a study on the basis of the conjoint analysis (CA) survey was carried out at a junior college, in which the respondents were questioned about the relevant factors taken into account to decide where either to sojourn or to reside in after graduating college. As a matter of fact, the surveyees, whose ages ranged from 18 to 20 years old, were all female students enrolled in humanities courses. These 129 participants were all from towns and cities in Tohoku region with the huge majority of these localities being officially classified by the government as ‘under-populated town’, and yet none as ‘big city’. As far as the experimental set up is concerned, the analysis focused on six CA attributes of big cities, namely, ‘job’, ‘life’, ‘attraction (fascination)’, ‘entertainment and shopping’, ‘family reasons’ and ‘encounters’, each provided with two CA levels. These attributes and levels were then translated into appropriate question-type sentences and carefully combined to make up five questionnaires, in which two of them were composed by three attributes whereas the others by two only. Either case, the respondents ranked the four conjoint cards on each questionnaire sheet according to their preferences and awareness. Then, the data processing was dealt with manually on a spreadsheet software application according to the standard choice-based CA procedure. It turned out that, whilst the importance value yielded the predominant attribute over the others within the questionnaire suggesting an evaluation order of the factors to establish the domicile of choice, the utility values are rather likely to express how the respondents felt towards their rural hometowns. Finally, regardless of the fact that this investigation was limited to a very particular sample population and confined to a specific territory, the results still help us not only shed some light on the addressed problem but also figure out some directions to make rural towns more attractive to young people.

Supplemental Material for College Students From Rural Hometowns Report Experiences of Psychological Sense of Community and Isolation

Supplemental Material for College Students From Rural Hometowns Report Experiences of Psychological Sense of Community and Isolation

College students from rural hometowns report experiences of psychological sense of community and isolation.

College students from rural hometowns report experiences of psychological sense of community and isolation.

Health status and migration: a propensity score matching with difference-in-difference regression approach

BackgroundBy 2014, about 253 million Chinese migrants had left their rural hometowns and were working in cities. The effect of migration on health is unclear, since it is affected by changes in environments and behaviours over the course of migration. Furthermore, previous studies have not thoroughly considered the “healthy migrant hypothesis” (that is, healthy people are more conducive to migrate). This paper strives to explore the potential mechanisms of migration and health over two successive years to provide a useful reference point for health policy targeted at migrants. MethodsData were collected from 9576 participants aged 15–64 years from the 2012 and 2014 China Labour Force Dynamic Survey (a nationwide cross-sectional survey covering 29 provinces with a multi-stage cluster, stratified, probability sampling strategy). The variables of migration included whether to migrate (the treatment and control groups were migrants and non-migrants, respectively), duration of migration, and migration distance during 2012–14. The variables of health status were changes of self-rated general health, physical health, and emotional health between 2012 and 2014. Controlled variables included medical security, and general and occupational health behaviour during 2012–14. We used propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-difference (DID) methods to examine potential mechanisms by controlling for the healthy migrant hypothesis. Ethical approval was obtained from Sun Yat-sen University (Guangdong, China). Informed consent was obtained from all participants. FindingsAfter PSM, health status in 2012 remained the same between the matched treatment and the control groups, suggesting that the healthy migrant hypothesis was successfully controlled (that is, the health difference between the two groups can be controlled). Using DID, we found that working overtime and lacking regular health check-ups were factors that worsened the general health of migrant workers after controlling for variables of age, sex, education, working hours, signing the labour contract and buying insurance (p<0·0001); lack of occupational protection measures and lack of regular health check-ups were factors worsening the physical health of migrant workers (p<0·0001). However, we noted no direct migration effect on health. InterpretationThis study provides convincing evidence that priority should be given to improving occupational safety and medical security for migrants. FundingNone.

Cohort differences in the urban settlement intentions of rural migrants: A case study in Jiangsu Province, China

China has experienced a massive rural-urban migration process since the mid-1980s. During the period, a new generation of rural migrants has increasingly accounted for a large segment of the total floating population. The younger generation differs from its predecessors with respect to certain characteristics, exhibiting improved human capital, less farming experience and a stronger desire for urban settlement. This generation prefers to settle in urban areas rather than return to rural hometowns to farm. Although the topic of permanent migration and urban settlement is an issue confronting China and other countries, research focussing on cohort differences in urban settlement decisions is limited. The paper, which reports the results of a 2010 survey of rural migrants in Jiangsu Province, China, provides an in-depth comparison of the determinants of urban settlement for younger and older generations for different types of urban destinations. Survey respondents were divided into two cohorts based on birth year, and both geographic and socioeconomic factors were examined. Binary logit regression models found that disparities between the two generations were related to differences in the life-cycle stages of the two cohorts, attitudes and behaviours, and recent economic and social transitions in Jiangsu Province.

‘People here speak five languages!’: The reindexicalization of minority language practice among Carinthian Slovenes in Vienna, Austria

AbstractThis article investigates the transformation of minority language practice in the light of changing European language ideologies. Following a group of young Carinthian Slovenes from their rural hometowns to the capital of Vienna, this article analyzes their metadiscursive commentary about place and language in order to show how local language ideologies structure the indexical orders under which these individuals learn to assign meaning to linguistic practice. The data I present illustrates that these young members of a rurally stigmatized linguistic minority experience a transformation of their language-associated personhood in Vienna. There, their bilingualism allows them to be cosmopolitan participants in a European vision of mobile multilingual citizenship, while simultaneously troubling the language hierarchies erased by European language ideologies. (Linguistic minority, language ideology, indexical order, chronotopes, multilingualism, Carinthian Slovenes, Austria, Europe)

Editorial Perspective: Assessing developmental risk in cultural context: the case of ‘left behind’ children in rural China

The role of family factors in developmental risk is widely acknowledged in general child psychology and psychiatry. It is also well understood that rapid socio‐economic change can lead to stress on community and family systems that can place children at risk. However, the impact of these processes is likely to vary as a function of the cultural setting in which they occur. Since the reform and opening up policy started in the late 1970s, China has experienced unprecedented economic growth and urban development. The process of industrialization has accelerated rural reforms in China and increased agricultural productivity and freed agricultural labor. As a consequence large numbers of former rural laborers have headed into more urbanized areas, looking for better employment opportunities and sources of income, while having no choice but to leave their children living in rural hometowns. . This forms the background of “left behind” children in rural China. “Left behind” children are those under 18 years of age who live with a single parent or their extended family in rural areas while one or both of their parents are away seeking employment in urban settings. The purpose of this editorial perspective is to describe the Chinese “left behind” children phenomenon and to highlight the need for research to provide an evidence‐based component to the assessment of risks in any policy review.

The Doubly Disadvantaged: How Return Migrant Students Fail to Access and Deploy Capitals for Academic Success in Rural Schools

A growing number of ‘return migrant children’, who have lived in cities where they had access to the compulsory education system, are sent back to their rural hometowns to prepare for higher education in China. This study explores the resources that are available to return migrant students for further educational development and examines their difficulties with activating their educational capitals and translating them into human capital, in the form of academic knowledge and educational success after their remigration (a change in their field of practice). Using a framework based on the work of Bourdieu, this article conceptualizes the educational resources available to migrant families in terms of economic, social and cultural capitals. This article contributes to a better understanding of the transformation and deployment of educational capitals by revitalizing the importance of the concepts of ‘habitus’ and ‘field’ inherent in Bourdieu’s work.

Impacts of Return Migration on Rural U.S. Communities

AbstractRural population loss is caused as much by low in‐migration as by high out‐migration, and for geographically disadvantaged nonmetropolitan counties in the United States, return migration plays a crucial role. This research captures impacts of return migrants on population, economy, and society in declining rural U.S. communities using a qualitative, multisited approach. Interviews conducted at high school reunions with rural returnees in their late 20s to late 40s show that the vast majority of returnees brought spouses and children back with them, increasing the short‐term and long‐term population. They also brought back much needed human capital, including education, job skills, and life experiences, and filled professional positions that are often hard to fill in rural communities. Entrepreneurial activities and self‐employment of many return migrants favorably affected rural economies by improving the employment base and expanding available services. Interviews show how decisions to move back were grounded in social relations that promoted civic engagement. While they mainly moved back for their children and their families, return migrants valued involvement in familiar social networks and the opportunities to make a difference in their rural hometowns.

The Evolution of “August Meeting” among the Igbo Women of Southeastern Nigeria

The month of August every year witnesses a massive homecoming from different towns and cities across the world of “Igbo women” groups to their matrimonial rural hometowns, where they unite with their rural-based colleagues for what is now popularly known as the “August Meeting.” These “mothers’ congresses,” as they truly are, were originally often geared towards self-help rural community development, but have in recent times delved into conflict management, peace-building and human development in rural societies. But, what is the history of the “August Meeting” initiative among Igbo women? How different is it from the two “traditional” women’s groups among the Igbo? How independent is this assemblage from men’s influences and patronage, especially in a patriarchal society like the Igbos’? This article reconstructs the evolution of the “August Meeting” among women in the Igbo society. It develops a comprehensive view of the agency of women’s participation therein, by focusing on their grassroots initiatives and the crucial roles they play in societal development.

Social Mobility of Migrant Peasant Workers in China

Using data from four cities in China (Shenzhen, Suzhou, Beijing, and Chengdu), this article examines the occupational and social mobility among migrant peasant workers in urban areas. Through qualitative interviews with 109 peasant workers in 2005, we found that institutionalized social structures, such as the household-registration system, constrain the occupational and social mobility of rural peasant workers who migrate to and reside in urban areas. Obtaining more education and skills appear to be viable mechanisms for at least some migrant peasant workers to achieve higher occupational or social status in the city. Nonetheless, after several years of working in the urban areas, many rural workers plan to return to their rural hometowns, largely due to the social exclusion they experienced in the cities.

The impact of parental migration on health status and health behaviours among left behind adolescent school children in China

BackgroundOne out of ten of China's population are migrants, moving from rural to urban areas. Many leave their families behind resulting in millions of school children living in their rural home towns without one or both their parents. Little is known about the health status of these left behind children (LBC). This study compares the health status and health-related behaviours of left behind adolescent school children and their counterparts in a rural area in Southern China.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among middle school students in Fuyang Township, Guangdong, China (2007-2008). Information about health behaviours, parental migration and demographic characteristics was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Overweight/obesity and stunting were defined based on measurements of height and weight. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to estimate the differences in health outcomes between LBC and non-LBC.Results18.1% of the schoolchildren had one or both parents working away from home. Multivariate analysis showed that male LBC were at higher risk of skipping breakfast, higher levels of physical inactivity, internet addiction, having ever smoked tobacco, suicide ideation, and being overweight. LBC girls were more likely to drink excessive amounts of sweetened beverage, to watch more TV, to have ever smoked or currently smoke tobacco, to have ever drunk alcohol and to binge drinking. They were also more likely to be unhappy, to think of planning suicide and consider leaving home.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that parental migration is a risk factor for unhealthy behaviours amongst adolescent school children in rural China. Further research is required in addition to the consideration of the implications for policies and programmes to protect LBC.

China's Millions of Jobless Migrants

27 GUANGDONG, CHINA—“With the Premier’s encouragement, we have exceeding confidence.” Zhang Wengui, 21, a peasant worker from Sichuan province, reads the slogan from a help-wanted board at the Likai Shoes factory on the outskirts of noisy Houjie Town, some 30 miles from Guangzhou, the capital of industry-heavy Guangdong province. Despite Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s reassuring smile in the photo that accompanies the optimistic pronouncement, Zhang still isn’t sure whether to pursue the job offer—it pays only $6 per day. It’s February, which means at least 130 million workers, like Zhang, have just arrived in Guangdong and other coastal provinces of China searching for jobs, signaling the end of a tense month-long return to their rural hometowns over the annual New Year’s break, known as the Spring Festival. Zhang Wengui’s dilemma is common: while this job promises only nominal revenue, there are painfully few posted on such billboards these days. Of serious concern, both to China and the world at large, is that an estimated 20 million workers who have left their rural family farms for the promise of work in urban and industrial centers may not succeed in finding new jobs, or holding onto their old ones this year. Last November, Premier Wen, concerned about declining employment statistics, visited Guangdong province, home to one of the largest concentrations of factories in the world. The Likai complex was one of many on his inspection list. Likai, together with around 500 other shoe factories in this small town, turns out each year some 600 million pairs of sneakers for Adidas, Nike, New Balance, and other global brands. Considering the world population of 6.76 billion—in a decade, Houjie Town alone produces enough footwear for every human being on the planet. During his Cambridge University speech on February 2, Wen was the target of a worn New Balance shoe thrown by a German graduate student protesting China’s human rights record. Chances are that very shoe was made in this town. The shoe-tossing incident notwithstanding, Premier Wen is a very popular figure in China. He is seen by his people as a sympathetic and responsive leader, not merely as the top Communist Party bureaucrat. Just seven hours after the devastating earthquake in Sichuan province (and long before any foreign media were able to reach the area), Wen stood before the collapsed school buildings at the epicenter of the catastrophe. His compassionate face and confident Michael Anti, a former reporter in The New York Times Beijing bureau, was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University last year.

The value, costs, and meaning of transnational migration in rural Oaxaca, Mexico

Rural Oaxacan migrants are defined as quintessential transnational movers, people who access rich social networks as they move between rural hometowns in southern Mexico and the urban centers of southern California. The social and cultural ties that characterize Oaxacan movers are critical to successful migrations, lead to jobs and create a sense of belonging and shared identity. Nevertheless, migration has socio-cultural, economic and psychological costs. To move the discussion away from a framework that emphasizes the positive transnational qualities of movement we focus on the costs of migration for Oaxacans from the state’s central valleys and Sierra regions.