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| URBANIZATION AND TOLERANCE: DEBATE IN WEST COUNTRIES AND IMPLICATION FOR CHINA |
| ZHOU Ya-ping1,2 |
1. Center for Studies of Ethnic Minorities in Northwest China of Lanzhou University, lanzhou 730000, China;
2. School of Philosophy and Sociology in Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China |
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Abstract Although the nexus between urbanization and tolerance towards migrants has been well documented, there is no consensus on whether the urbanization reduces the urbanities' prejudice for migrants. Classical theory named urbanism proposition examines the independent effect of urbanization and regionalism on general attitudes toward a host of target groups. Compared with the urbanism proposition, an alternative approach, despite its significance of explaining urbanites' acceptance and tolerance of non-urbanites, has not been systematically examined. It origins from social identity theory, which focuses on the permeability of what name symbolic or social restrictions and its outcome in personal and group mobility approach. Assessment critically consistent with a contradictory propensity in social categories has started to question the elevation of diversity as a panacea for enduring prejudice and intergroup hostility. Scholars engaging in collection classification have investigated the distinction among 'us' and 'them'. China's comparative advantage in its labor force is one of the main factors contributing to the country's rapid economic development. Among the relevant studies, marginalization is a term frequently used to describe the experience of rural migrant workers being discriminated against by urban residents. Some researchers regard the household registration system as one of the most significant mechanisms contributing to the marginalization of these migrant workers. Many researches presented in literature have been principally focused on the subject of urbanization and tolerance in some countries in west world; they may have great enlightenments for the research about the relationship between urbanization and tolerance in contemporary China. Therefore, this debate has great policy implication for social integration of migrant workers in the process of urbanization in China.
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Received: 11 June 2012
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2013, Vol. 28 
