Comparing migration in China itself to Chinese migration to Europe, this book critically assesses received ideas, perceptions and theories concerning internal and international migration. Comparing migration in China itself to Chinese migration to Europe, this book critically assesses received ideas, perceptions and theories concerning internal and international migration. The book argues for the emergence of a Chinese world system in which internal and international mobility is a central and heterogenous feature. The book presents an unusually rich case study of migration and transnationalism of migrants from southern Zhejiang province in Chinese and European cities, studies of rural-urban migration in booming southern China, implementation of the birth control policy among migrants in Beijing, discrimination and stereotypisation of rural migrants in Shanghai, contract worker teams in Beijing, and forced urban-rural migration during the Cultural Revolution.
