| This dissertation explores rural-urban migration among female garment workers in the context of China's rapid economic and social transformation. The increasing participation of married women in labour migration challenges the assumption of most migration theories that women seldom migrate or that women migrants are mostly young and single. In this study, feminist perspectives are applied to develop a deeper understanding of the intersection of gender with class and rural/urban relations in shaping married women's migration. Interviews and observations were used as major methods for data collection in two provinces of South China, Hunan and Guangdong.;Migration and employment lead to the reconstruction of gender, class, and rural/urban identities for married women. In particular, motherhood is redefined to embrace income-earning as well as care-giving activities. In the context of the geographic separation of family and work and China's patriarchal traditions, this transformation is often laden with contradiction and stress.;This study concludes that migration is associated with an acute work-family dilemma for married women, which limits their empowerment through migration. Without satisfactory solutions, this dilemma will produce contradictory impacts on both rural and urban societies in the long run.;Keywords: Women, migration, work, family, identity, and dilemma;Findings suggest that married women are active participants in migration. Their participation is often driven by domestic pursuits, such as house construction and children's education. In addition, they regard migration as a way to a more independent and valuable life. Nevertheless, married migrant women are generally disadvantaged in the labour markets open to them. Despite appeals from workers and other social groups, labour standards have been kept low in garment factories, including stringent piece-rate wages, long working hours, and a lack of social benefits. The precariousness of employment and the lack of urban resident status make family migration for most of the married women in this study fraught with hazards. |
