Contesting Citizenship in Urban China

Post-Mao market reforms in China have led to a massive migration of rural peasants toward the cities. This title challenges the notion that markets necessarily promote rights and legal equality in any direct or linear fashion. "An outstanding work. Solinger's comprehensive treatment is likely to gain immediate attention from political scientists, sociologists, economics, and anthropologists working on China—as well as from students of migration and informal labor markets in other societies."—Elizabeth Perry, author of Shanghai on Strike "In this extraordinary book, Solinger documents that the coming of markets cannot easily convert outsiders into citizens. Years of fieldwork in several of China's cities have produced an enormously rich and detailed account."—Saskia Sassen, author of Globalization and Its Discontents Post-Mao market reforms in China have led to a massive migration of rural peasants toward the cities. Officially denied residency in the cities, the over 80 million members of this "floating population" provide labor for the economic boom in urban areas but are largely denied government benefits that city residents receive. In an incisive and original study that goes against the grain of much of the current discussion on citizenship, Dorothy J. Solinger challenges the notion that markets necessarily promote rights and legal equality in any direct or linear fashion.

Post-Mao market reforms in China have led to a massive migration of rural peasants toward the cities. Officially denied residency in the cities, the over 80 million members of this ''floating population'' provide labor for the economic boom in urban areas but are largely denied government benefits that city residents receive. In an incisive and original study that goes against the grain of much of the current discussion on citizenship, Dorothy J. Solinger challenges the notion that markets necessarily promote rights and legal equality in any direct or linear fashion.