Temporary Migration, Empowerment and Disempowerment: Case Studies of Hui Migrant Women in Guangzhou , China

Rural to urban migration of women in China has recently begun to attract the research attention. A void however is yet to be filled in terms of studies of rural-to-urban migration of ethnic minority women. This paper draws on focus group discussions and in-depth interviews among Hui women who are temporary migrants in Guangzhou, China.I will present the lived realities of several Hui women who are temporary migrants in Guangzhou, China. These women are excluded from the mainstream society and are defined as inferiorized others by the local Muslim community. I trace their agency and initiatives regarding their migration decisions and trajectories through the lens of empowerment and disempowerment. On the one hand, I examine how some women were disempowered as the objects of power exercised by dominant others. On the other hand, I assess how other women take initiatives to reject the disempowering forces, and act as subjects of their own empowerment.