"Rural-urban divide or continuum?" : on the consequences of female labour migration to Bangkok for rural-urban interactions in an age of globalisation

摘要

On the national level of rural-urban interactions inThailand economic globalisation produces spatial, sectoraland sexual disparities which trigger female labourmigration from the periphery to industrial employment in Bangkok and its vicinity. In geographical termsthese dynamics establish an economic System (or continuum) between the periphery and the mega-city. Onthe individual level migrants negotiate shifting identities and social relations. Literally the ?traditionaldaughter? meets the ?modern woman?. As a result,each migrant produces a distinct pattern of Bangkokperipheryinteractions. ?Traditional daughters? usually envisage relurn migration and thus maintain vividrural-urban relations. ?Modern women? may cut offthe link with the rural in the long run, influenced bymarriage, generation differences, and socio-economiccrises, such as that of 1997/1998. Most typically, ?translocal migrants? view Bangkok as their place of workand Status accumulation yet remain socio-culturallycommitted to the rural environment. With traditionalThai pragmatism they manage not to feel torn and ultimatelyshape continuous rural-urban relations. Thus,?in-between? categories increasingly replace stereotypes of ?the global? and ?the local?, ?the rural-traditional? and ?the urban-modern?.