Li Sun
Public Policy and Migrant Workers' Employment Career -
Farmers' Rural-Urban Migration in China
With the rapid industrialization and urbanization in China, a large number of farmers migrate from impoverished rural areas to prosperous urban regions seeking off-farm employment. This group of people is referred to as migrant workers, and the number has reached 242 million by the end of 2010. According to a recent UN report on rural-urban migration policies, only 10 out of 173 countries had policies to increase rural to urban migration in 2009 and China was one of them, thus, it is interesting to take a closer look at those policies in China. The research aims to study how different types of policy intervention shape migrant workers' political participation (eg, participate in policy/programme, right/welfare claiming), and how it eventually affects migrant workers' coping strategies on certain events (eg, work injuries and wage arrears, etc), whether adopting a formal and legal way or choosing an informal way. Through in-depth interviews with migrant workers, their bottom-up perspective offers us a direct image of how differences of policy intervention affect citizen?s lives.
Education
- 2009 -2012
- PhD Candidate, Sociology, Bielefeld University
- 2011
- non-degree graduate student, Community Development, University of California, Davis
- 2007-2009
- MSc, International Master of Rural Development (Erasmus Mundus), Humboldt University of Berlin, Wageningen University, Ghent University, Pisa University, Agrocampus Ouest, Univeristy of Cordoba, Slovak Univeristy of Agirculture.
- 2005-2007
- MSc, Rural Development and Management, China Agricultural University
- 2001-2005
- B.A., Sociology, China Agricultural University
- Li Sun and Sony Pellissery (2012), Rural Development, in Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability: China, India, and East and Southeast Asia: Assessing Sustainability, edited by Ray Anderson. (forthcoming)
- Li Sun (2011), Policies on Migrant Workers? Employment in Contemporary China, Journal of US-China Public Administration, Vol.8, No.11: 1261-1274
- Jun He and Li Sun (2007): A Social Network Research on Technical Extension in Livestock: Take Milk Cow Livestock in X Village in Inner Mongolia as an Example, Rural Economy, No.9: 87-89 (in Chinese)
- Xiaoyun Li and Li Sun (2007): The Impact of Public Spaces on Farmers' Social Capital: A Case Study of Huangxi Village, Jiangxi Province, Journals of China Agricultural University (Humanities and Social Edition), Vol.24. No.1: 82-97 (in Chinese)
- Li Sun (2006): The Motivation of the Female Farmers? Migration to Cities, Rural Economy and Science-Technology, No.8: 28-29 (in Chinese)
- Li Sun and Jun He (2006): The research on Female Migrant Workers who Move to Cities but Engaging in Farm Activities, Rural Economy, No.11: 92-94 (in Chinese)
- 2009-2012
- PhD scholarship of Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology, sponsored by German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG)
- 2011
- Mobility Grants for research abroad, sponsored by German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG)
- 2007-2009
- Master Scholarship of International Master in Rural Development Program, sponsored by European Commission Erasmus Mundus Program.
- 2005-2007
- Scholarship for Outstanding Master Students, sponsored by China Agricultural University
- 2007
- Prize for Excellent Master Thesis, awarded by International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
- 2006
- Research Funding for Master Thesis Researches in Rural Development, sponsored by International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
- 2005
- Outstanding B.A. Graduates of 2005 in Beijing, awarded by Beijing Education Commission
- 2004
- Special Grants for Bachelor Students' Social Responsibility, sponsored by Hong Kong Chongzheng Foundation
- 2002
- Excellent Prize for Students' Contribution to the Countryside and Farmers, awarded by China Agricultural University.
