In thirty years China has accomplished three transitions: from a centralized planned economy to a market economy, from an agricultural society to an industrial society, from rural life to a very intense urbanization. The rapidity with which the Chinese transitions have taken place has provoked an intensification of inner migrations in China. Migrants have developed intracontinental multimobilities, that is successive mobilities from rural labour markets to urban labour markets and vice versa. Therefore, the image of the migrant has become the symbol in which to understand not only the processes of reconfiguration and segmentation of labour markets but also more generally the question of resistance of the Chinese society. The processes of socialisation of the migrants inform on a variety of forms of affiliation and social and economic distancing specific to the Chinese society. The migrant appears to be a socially disqualified individual agent, object of domination but also capable of circulation, action and mobilisation.

China Migrants inequalities Employment mobility Disqualification

China autonomy migrants experience labor market employment transitional economy internal migration