Migrant labour flows and interconnected agrarian transformations in Southern China

Bibliographic Data

ID6414409
AuthorsYunan Xu (0000-0002-4520-1207, University of Cambridge, corresponding author), Chunyu Wang (0000-0002-9400-9107, China Agricultural University), J Ye (0000-0003-4917-3431, China Agricultural University), Sai Sam Kham (0000-0002-7161-8276, Erasmus University Rotterdam), Doi Ra (0009-0006-7287-1878, Erasmus University Rotterdam), Jennifer C Franco (0000-0002-7807-1517), Saturnino M Borras Jr (0000-0003-3092-7467, China Agricultural University), Saturnino M Borra (0000-0002-2719-4154), Saturnino M Borras
Year2025
Volume42
Issue4
Pages2355-2373
Publication date2025-02-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAgriculture and Human Values (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0889-048X • E-ISSN: 1572-8366
PublisherSpringer Nature (Netherlands) (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1007/s10460-024-10692-y
PMID41306686
OpenAlexW4407131789
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited65

While contemporary debates about agrarian transformations that include topics like the persistence of family farms, agrarian capital accumulation, and simple reproduction squeeze remain vibrant, discussions about the increasingly significant role of migrant wage labour, which further complicates these processes, remain limited. In this paper, we argue that the process of capitalist accumulation in some sections of the agrarian and food system sectors in southern China is able to proceed despite recurring pressures — especially labour shortages in the rural economy caused by domestic rural–urban migration — because of the availability of migrant workers from neighbouring countries such as Myanmar. This development dynamic can be better understood through the lens of interrelated connections between land and labour and production and social reproduction across China and Myanmar. We highlighted the role of two land-related labour flows in the agrarian transformation in southern China–Myanmar regions. We argue that various social classes and groups across China and Myanmar are tied to land, wage work and capital accumulation and, in turn, their productive and social reproductive tasks are directly and indirectly linked to one another. If we are to understand agrarian transformation in settings like this, then methodologically, we will have to adopt an interconnected approach in order to bring the pieces of the puzzle together

Agrarian society · Agriculture · China · Development economics · Development studies · Economic geography · Economic growth · Economic system · Economics · Environmental sociology · Geography · Migrant workers · Political science · Social science · Sociology · China's Global Influence and Migration · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Migration and Labor Dynamics

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