Coercion And Conformity: A Study On The Handling Of Indigent Migrants System

Under the perspective of coercion and conformity , author analysis the transtionof the Handling of Indigent Migrants System of New-China (1949-2003) based on ahistoric & case study in Beijing . Author applies two core hypothesizes:Non-institution coercion & Selectable profit conformity. The hypothesis ofNon-institution coercion explain the logic of municipal government how to governthe rural migrant workers in order to implement the purpose of social order &stabilization. This logic derives from the will of national leaders aspire after the aimof social governance. Although grand purposes are necessary in the course ofmodernization, the tension of sizable-society and high-density population between theshort of governance resource is a motivation to apply the non-institution coercion tofinish the strategy of national development. The Handling of Indigent Migrant Systemplayed two poles in the period of the plan economy system: firstly, it was a rule waysto coercion enemies;secondly, it was a relief system to help homelessness, disableand unemployment.In the time of social transition, the rural migrant workers make a seriouscompetition to urban resident, and bring negative effects on the order and publicresource of city, such as employment, public security and stabilization, etc. The ruralmigrant workers turn into the focus of municipal government management. In orderto keep the profit of city, the Handling of Indigent Migrants System turned into thepolicing institution to implement the order of city.Since the need to social order of city embodies a series of quantitatively index,and the need for the fiscal enforced by the pressure of the public governance,governance department always use coercion depended on breaking up the institution.As a result, the role as the underclass of rural migrant workers internalization in thestructure of urban society, they have to choose conformity to fit their role as theunderclass. Additional, non-institution coercion came from government made ruralmigrant workers to applied strategy to avoid the harm of the handling indigentmigrants system depending the profit exchange with officials.