The Chinese Exodus

This book offers a sociological analysis as well as a theological discussion of China’s internal migration since the marketization reform in 1978. It documents the social and political processes that encompass the experiences of internal migrants from the countryside to the city during China’s integration into the global economy. Informed by sociological analysis and narratives of the urban poor, this volume reconstructs the political, economic, social and spiritual dimensions of this urban underclass in China who made up the economic backbone of the Asian superpower.''The Chinese Exodus is a moving description, based on social science research and extensive personal interviews, of the poverty, prejudice, and destruction of social bonds experienced by those who have migrated from the rural areas of China to the cities. But it’s more than that, and it’s the ’more’ that makes Li Ma’s discussion unusual and important. She interweaves her descriptions of urban poverty and social disorientation in China with a rich and passionate Christian theological interpretation of those phenomena.''--Nicholas Wolterstorff, Yale University''This profoundly important book provides an in-depth study of one of the major crises in contemporary China: the tragic plight of the large numbers of rural poor who have migrated to urban centers in recent years. These folks experience difficult--indeed, in many cases, unspeakable--hardships. Li Ma not only describes the contours of their lives with impressive sociological insight, but she also advocates on their behalf by making it clear that their plight touches the very heart of God. I hope that this fine book moves many human hearts--as it has moved mine!''--Richard Mouw, Fuller Theological Seminary''This book . . . exposes the unbearable burden upon millions and millions of rural migrants . . . in the former communist countries whose population lived mostly in the countryside at the time of their opening and reform. Li Ma . . . goes beyond the ’scientific research’ of the phenomena. Poverty, deprivation, and alienation can be described and analyzed, but she points out convincingly that the root lies deeper. Only with faith in God can migrants get internal freedom and the sense of being equal before God.''--Jingbei Hu, Tongji University''In the past two decades China has witnessed the most massive peacetime internal migration in the history of the world. Ma’s groundbreaking study of China’s urban migrants combines careful sociological research with deep theological reflection as she responds to the biblical injunction to both ’know the stranger’ and ’welcome the stranger.’ Her penetrating analysis reveals the paradox of those who, due to the entrenched discrimination of China’s socialist system and the forces of capitalist domination, live as immigrants in their own country.''--Brent Fulton, President, ChinaSource''What does it look like when a country with a history of class division mixes communism and capitalism? China and the plight of migrants cannot be understood without careful analysis, and this book provides multiple key insights by placing the story of urban migration, and the resulting effects on individuals, families, and children, within economic, sociological, and theological frameworks. The result is deep and profound understandings that help us see the suffering, and some of the pathways for coming alongside those who suffer injustice. It is a must resource for understanding China today.''--Jul Medenblik, President of Calvin Theological Seminary ''Li Ma captures voices of Chinese migrant workers that most of us would otherwise never hear. To the outside world China’s material gains and economic power are the image of the nation. Li Ma presents the costs Chinese working people pay. Her voice challenges the god of money.''--Thomas Post, World Renew Team Leader-Asia''The Chinese Exodus offers a comprehensive and poignant account of Chinese migrant workers