Inheriting or re-structuring habitus/capital? Chinese migrant children in the urban field of cultural reproduction

Abstract

Highlighting the fluid nature of habitus/capital, this paper critiques a ‘rucksack approach’ (Erel, 2010 Erel, U. (2010). Migrating cultural capital: Bourdieu in migration studies. Sociology, 44(4), 642–660. doi:10.1177/0038038510369363[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) in the Bourdieusian studies of Chinese migrants’ cultural reproduction and social inclusion, which takes a determinism and fatalism standpoint and neglects the re-structuring of the migrant habitus and cultural capital over generations. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Beijing and Shanghai with 62 teachers, rural migrants and local parents and students. This paper conceptualises an urban field of cultural reproduction, which is marked by the reproduction and validation of urban-specific cultural configurations, including knowledge, skill, language, aesthetic/taste, value and lifestyle. In this field, migrant children have experienced re-structuring of habitus and accumulation of new forms of cultural capital. This is illustrated by their manner of speaking, ways of behaving, self-presentation, and their appreciation of extra-curricular hobbies. A well-integrated relationship between migrant and local children can be identified, which contributes to the production of a generation of ‘new urban citizens’, yet in the meantime reproduces the migrant families’ class status as low-skilled labourers.