Leaving, staying, or returning : rural adolescents' place identity and its impacts on mobility

Abstract

In pursuit of urban conditions and opportunities, many rural young people are leaving their roots, either passively or actively. The massive exodus of residents results in the hollowing out and decline in rural society of China. Rural revitalization entails the return and retention of the local population. However, the mobility choices of rural individuals are heavily influenced by their identification with the rural environment. Consequently, understanding rural residents’ place identity is crucial for shedding light on their attitudes and evaluations toward their native communities, which can help to clarify their mobility considerations. Place identity refers to an individual’s perceptions, attitudes, interpretations, evaluations, ideas, and feelings about a particular location. This multifaceted concept encompasses three subdimensions: belonging, attachment, and dependence. With rural adolescents as primary subjects, the ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in a rural junior high school in Guizhou Province. Data collection involved on-site and remote collection from September 2021 to November 2023. This study employed various methods to triangulate data, including observation, interviews, documents, photography, videography, and questionnaires. The participants included 39 students, 11 teachers, 5 guardians, and 5 rural returnees. Reflective thematic analysis served as the primary data analysis method, complemented by content analysis and statistical analysis. Three points characterize the place identity of rural adolescents. First, they claim an overt, strong identity on the surface while simultaneously exhibiting a latent, weak one. This duality arises from two inconsistencies in their identification process, between verbal assertions and behavioral responses and between perceptions and actualities. Second, they invest more sentiments in the concept of hometown rather than the rural label associated with the location, which is perceived to impede personal development. Thus, their place identity is more established on “hometown as the place” rather than “rural as the place”. Third, rural youth’s place identity emerges spontaneously as self-centric identification. This identification neglects the social connotations associated with the place and the corresponding engagement within it, thereby failing to develop collective-centric, reflective identification. Regarding the relationship between identity and mobility, many adolescents tend to leave due to dependence factors, while belonging can activate their collective awareness and responsibility, facilitating their return. By contrast, adult returnees prioritize dependence and attachment factors when returning to villages. However, they may relocate to the county seat to seek a better balance between belonging, attachment, and dependence. The research contributes to theoretical and practical aspects of scholarship. It refines the framework of place identity by incorporating theory- and data-driven approaches. It additionally unravels the complexities of place identity in real-life scenarios. More significantly, it explores the potential of rural areas to attract and retain local people. In education, emphasizing localism and rural life to strengthen local connections is essential for individuals to foster reflective identification and fully engage with their villages. Beyond education, promoting local industries per the principle of rural sustainability and ensuring livelihood security is crucial. This strategic combination will motivate more young locals to return, serve, and sustain rural communities.