Who Moved (A Socio-economic and Policy Analysis of the Voluntary Migration for Poverty Alleviation Project)

Author: Lin Zhibin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The subject of this book is the issue of immigration, but its research approach and the developmental sociology concepts applied should have broad reference value for those engaged in poverty alleviation and development research. The main issue this study focuses on is whether China's voluntary immigration poverty alleviation programs have effectively achieved the primary goal of poverty alleviation set by the government. The core argument of this study is that government-organized immigration poverty alleviation programs mobilize a significant amount of resources, which, in some resettlement areas, have brought prospects of prosperity and development to both the migrants and the resettlement areas. However, these immigration poverty alleviation programs have not fully benefited the target group defined by the government, i.e., the impoverished population in impoverished areas. In fact, many beneficiaries, although located within macro-defined impoverished areas, are not impoverished individuals but rather relatively affluent individuals in relatively affluent communities within those impoverished areas. This study conducts its analysis from three dimensions: (1) socio-economic dimension; (2) policy dimension; (3) developmental sociology dimension. This three-dimensional analytical framework is innovative compared to other immigration and poverty alleviation studies in China.