Return decision-making mechanism of Chinese rural migrants from the perspective of assemblage theory:A case study of Yangzhou,Jiangsu province
Currently,China has entered the intermediate and advanced stages of urbanization,leading to a significant shift in population migration patterns,characterized by a deceleration in the growth rate of migrant populations and an increasingly noticeable trend of population return.Most studies on population return have traditionally focused on examining the willingness of migrant populations to return and the factors influencing their decision from a static perspective,overlooking its dynamic nature.Assemblage theory,known for its spatio-temporal dynamics and collective thinking,is widely applied in mobility studies.Therefore,this study introduces an explanatory approach based on assemblage theory and employs grounded theory research methods to concentrate on rural migrants who have returned to their hometown counties.It codes and uses 30 interview datasets from Yizheng,Gaoyou,and Baoying between 2022-2023 to explore the dynamic process underlying population return decisions as well as the interconnections among influencing factors with an aim to delve deeper into the fundamental driving forces behind population return while further enriching theoretical research on mechanisms driving such returns.The research findings are as follows:(1)Rural migrants returning to their hometown counties is mainly influenced by five elements of destination environment,family,county environment,life events,and material needs,which are linked to form the"population return assemblage".Among them,the family element is the core driving force of the generation of return decision.(2)The population return assemblage consists of three sets of assemblage relationships:"destination environment-county environment-family","destination environment-material needs-county environment-family",and"destination environment-life events-county environment-family".(3)The county seat is the ideal destination for the returners to realize a complete family settlement and enjoy urban resources within their limited ability.The relatively leisurely living and working environment and the strong sense of"home"in the county seat are also important reasons for attracting rural migrants to return to the county seat.(4)The return of rural migrants is a"process+opportunity"model of return decision generation,and there are gender differences.Rural female migrants are more constrained by family factors.The destination environment,family,county environment,life events,and material needs are assembled in space to present a shift from domain to non-domain,and are stimulated by opportunities to facilitate return decisions.
assemblage theoryrural migrantsmechanism of return migrationcounty
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
