Home Again: Migrant Cosmopolitanism and Change in Rural China

Abstract

Drawing on interview data from three counties of Jiangxi Province, China, this paper shows that return migrants and other residents of rural localities complicate rural-urban distinctions and ideas of modernity as linear progress. The dichotomous view of the relationship between the ‘rural’ and the ‘urban’ that pervades discussions of development does not hold up well before current practices of labor migration. Cosmopolitan migrants span distances between countrysides and cities and use resources from each locale in varying circumstances. Migrants and other rural residents engage with material and cultural resources they bring from cities to bring about situated regional modernities that often contrast with dominant narratives of national modernization. Due to varying backgrounds at places of origin and contexts at migration destinations, migrants develop varying visions of the city and countryside that affect their responses to modernizing messages. Recognizing these variations is crucial for understanding people’s choices regarding consumption, migration decisions, and agricultural practices.