Minority migration and government policies for minority migrants : taking Wenzhou as a case

Abstract

This is a study of minority migrants in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province; it examines minority migration and policies for minorities in this middle-sized city. Minority migration occurs alongside the rapid urbanization and industrialization of Wenzhou, where small-commodity products have brought it fame as a regional center of global enterprise. The study focuses on two ethnic groups, the Miao and the Hui, to explore how the two ethnicities express their identities in a new environment and how these minority migrants perceive, experience, manage their minority identities when they move from a minority culture dominated to a Han-dominated society. When settling into new environment, these two groups have different strategies for reconstructing and reorganizing their social networks. Miao minority migrants, who do not have visible minority characteristics, predominantly integrate into local culture and see themselves as common migrants, even though they have a very strong ethnic identity in their areas of origin. In contrast, the Hui, who have obvious visible minority characteristics in terms of religion and appearance, create a clear boundary between themselves and others, and this tends to induce conflict. Because of these differences between these two groups, local Han officials, who were not experienced in dealing with minority migrant issues, have had to adjust previous minority policies, which were inadequate for addressing the dilemmas of China’s minority migrants today.

Date of Award	2013
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology