Doctoral Dissertation Research: Urbanization, Development, and Labor Migration

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation research project investigates how state development initiatives in non-liberal political contexts shape labor migration and urbanization. Urban populations now account for over half of the world's population, with the proportion projected to grow to two-thirds by the mid-21st century. Of this increase, 90% is expected to take place in developing countries, including those with authoritarian governments. This research project investigates how urban labor migration, a key driver of this projected urbanization, can be catalyzed by development projects that may seem to have little to do with migration, such as those that subsidize rural house construction. It analyzes how these development projects shape ideas about modernity and how these in turn encourage migration. It also investigates how urban migration shapes senses of self and identity, and how these work with or against states' attempts to govern their populations. The project's findings will be widely disseminated via academic and non-academic outlets. Results are relevant to policy-makers, NGOs, and development organizations concerned with the social impacts of rapid urbanization throughout the developing world. Using qualitative (participant observation, semi-structured interviews, surveys, and textual and discourse analysis) field-gathered data, this project examines the relationship between development as a rationale of rule and its actual accomplishment, and how state power (re)shapes desires vis-a-vis housing as a form of development. The project contributes to the field of development geography through its investigation of governmentality and modernity in an authoritarian, non-Western context. It also contributes to the geography of migration by analyzing how cultural politics and political-economic factors come together in producing labor migration, and how the experience of labor migration shapes migrant and urban subjectivities. This study investigates these broad questions by asking how and why villagers make the decisions they do with respect to accepting and spending on housing projects; how and why they make decisions about labor migration; and how urban living experiences change their aspirations and identities. Although this project uses a case study of Tibetans in Qinghai province, China, its approach and findings has applicability in many other places experiencing rapid urbanization. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this project will also provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.