Mobilities and Identities of Educated Young Adults: A Life-History and Biographical Study

Drawing on original data from a life-history survey and biographical interviews, this research investigates the patterns and meanings of migration among educated young adults from peripheral China. A fourfold typology of spatial mobility is developed from the divergent migration pathways from home to university and onward to the current places of residence: move-out, move-down, move-up, and reentry. The finding that the migration process of educated young people is complex and dynamic calls for a reconceptualization of migration as an ongoing process rather than a one-off event. Using four case study examples, the article illustrates how identities, throughout the life course, are shaped by place and are articulated in the dialectic between mobility and immobility. In doing so, the article corroborates the idea that identity cannot be fully understood without reference to mobility and place.