The Research Of Shanghai Skilled Immigrants’ Social Integration On “Social Individualization Theory” Perspective

In this paper, the author used "social individualization" theory perspective to explore the status of Chinese city’s new immigrant rooted in the city. According the “social individualization” theory, with the development of the modernization, individual in the society increasingly detached out from traditional social constraints, which "de-embedded" process occurs. Individuals in high social mobility continue to rise and in turn make changes in social structure. This paper argues that the “social individualization” theory as a new research perspective of the social integration of new immigrants to the city. Focus on the following three issues: First, the “individualization theory” suggests that the rise of Chinese individuals in the society made young urban migrants have more self-consideration space in the choice of life trajectory, however, behind this seemingly freedom exists the market and government’s constructional guide and constraints, under such circumstances, whether there is a positive role of the rise of individuals in young immigrants’ social integration? Secondly, the high social mobility is an important background to the social individualization, and young individuals involved in the social flow will turn to reshape their relationship with social groups and institutions, even to promote changes in the social system. So, will this remodeling of relationship affect the social integration of young urban migrants? Finally, due to historical and cultural differences between China and Western Europe, our individualization lacks the prerequisites of democracy and the welfare state, so the rise of individuals often become a "no-public morality-self", will this in turn affect the young immigrants’ social inclusion policy, and their attitudes to rooted in the city?In this paper, through the study of Shanghai young skilled immigrants come to the following conclusions: First, the rise of the social individuals does increases the autonomy of the young urban migration’s choice on life trajectories, but because of the constraints of social structure and guide, the individuals’ choices to select the actual path was still limited, so the positive role of self-selection in promoting social inclusion is not obvious; Second, the high mobility of brought the rise of young individuals and makes them have multiple social networks, and their social support networks emerge multi-mobility, namely the formation of a "mobile community," which is both approach and results of the young skilled migrants adapted to the social integration; Third, the lack of democratic culture and welfare state in our society led individuals to become "no-public-morality of self", this in one hand makes they more likely to choose to "self-niche" strategy to digest the integrate pressure. On the other hand, the new immigrants’ powerlessness to change the macro-structure of the city, resulting in their more concentration about personal living space and the formation of a "self-responsibility" of consciousness, which is an attempt to cross the liberation of political to pursue a life political which is a radical type modernization, and that is not conducive to improving the urban environment of social integration of migrants at the macro level.