The making of urban citizens: social inclusion and division in China's new urban areas

In China, legal urban residence has long been considered a privilege. Our comparative project examines processes of social inclusion, exclusion and transformation through which people obtain, maintain or lose membership in China s urban society. In comparing these processes we choose four case studies based on a typology of emerging urban areas differently affected by industrialization and labour mobility. We focus on the social and political dynamics that emerge and the effects of local policies on these dynamics. Particular attention will be paid to policies designed to civilize new urban citizens and to both subjective and constructed images of citizenship.