Rural migrants in China: barriers to education and citizenship

During the economic boom in the last four decades in China, about 170 million rural migrants moved to cities. Building on existing concepts and models of citizenship, this article analyses how rural migrants, as legal citizens of China, have been segregated by the assigned identity of hukou and compromised in citizenship rights, including civil, political, social, and cultural rights. The analysis of citizenship rights describes how students without local hukou face barriers to education regarding educational access, educational achievement, and cultural identification and integration. The educational implications of differentiated citizenship and lack of cultural integration are discussed.