What factors can have effects on Chinese migrant workers' community participation?
哪些因素影响了外来农民工的社区参与？

Social capital signifies a potential ability to benefit its owner in social networks and/or social organizations, the ability that often manifests itself in a person’s social relationships and/or social networks. Migrant workers’ community participation, which includes building social networks in and developing sense of belonging to the neighborhoods of their new residence, can develop their social capital and improve their quality of life. The development of migrant workers’ social capital, in turn, may motivate them to engage more actively in local services and voluntary organizations. In the West, community participation is an important means to empower individuals and communities.
社会资本是存在于社会网络和社会组织中的能够为拥有它的主体带来收益的一种潜在性的能力，常体现为某人的社会关系或社会网络。外来移民的社区参与（community participation），包括建立社会网络、增加对当地社区的认同等有助于增强其社会资本，进而改善生活。另一方面，外来移民社会资本的提高又促使人们更加积极参与当地社区的服务和志愿组织，而这是西方社会中对个人和社区赋权的重要手段。

China provides a different context for community participation. China has a limited history of civic participation. In recent decades, the country’s rapid economic growth and urbanization has driven a vast flow of nearly 200 million villagers into cities, who are usually called migrant workers. These workers, however, lack community participation partly due to some of China’s structural constraints such as the hukou system. Given these contextual factors, the West may have an inaccurate understanding of social capital and community participation in China. A pressing issue in this regard pertains to the factors that have effects on Chinese migrant workers’ community participation. This study attempted to offer some insights into this issue by making use of the 2006 survey data on 3,024 migrant workers in 7 Chinese cities.
中国的现状有着一定的特殊性。经济的高速增长和城市化的迅速推进促使近2亿人口从农村向城市迁移成为了所谓的农民工，但由于户籍等制度性障碍，外来农民工的社区参与往往不足；中国的公民参与历史比较有限，因此西方对中国社会资本和社区参与的理解可能并不准确，这迫切需要我们了解中国农民工的社区参与到底受什么因素影响。本研究使用了2006年来自中国7个城市3024名农民工的调查数据，正是回答了这个问题。

The study yielded three key findings. First, community participation of Chinese migrant workers tends to be influenced more by concrete factors such as level of neighbor support and that of care from their neighborhoods. This is different from the finding of research in a similar vein conducted in Western contexts, namely that affective factors (e.g., mutual trust and place attachment) tend to have stronger effects on community participation. Second, difficulties in Chinese migrant workers’ lives reduce the possibilities for them to develop closer connections to their neighborhoods. Third, Chinese migrant workers are not accustomed to seeking help from their neighborhoods but are more inclined to depend on the government for support.
本研究发现中国农民工的社区参与更多受邻里互助程度、社区关怀程度等具体因素的影响，而不像西方文献所揭示的更多出于互信、地方依附等情感上的因素。此外，农民工生活中的实际困难大大降低了其与社区建立紧密联系的可能性。研究结果同样表明现阶段的中国农民工并不习惯向社区寻求帮助，而是更倾向于依靠政府。

In light of the particularities of migrant workers in China’s context, two recommendations can be made regarding their community participation. Firstly, these workers’ concrete needs should be addressed first, which in turn can help them to develop stronger identification with their new neighborhoods. Secondly, governments at various levels remain a key player in developing migrant workers’ social capital and incorporating them into their new neighborhoods. Now it is not fitting that local communities shoulder the responsibilities in these two respects.
考虑到中国农民工和中国国情的双重特殊性，中国在加强农民工社区参与时应以解决他们的实际生活诉求为前提，再逐步推进对社区的精神认同。另一方面，各级政府仍是提升农民工社会资本、促进农民工融合的关键角色，现阶段还不适宜将责任和义务大规模甩给社区。