Today, I had multiple journeys with cabbies, whose names uncannily re-inscribe a history of social movements as labor migration.

The first cabbie was named Weibin (卫宾). He was born in 1971 to parents who supported Mao’s Cultural Revolution. At 18, Weibin joined the army and was redeployed to Beijing in April, 1989, where he and other trainees were on as back-up. According to Weibin, PLA soldiers didn’t respond to any civilian actions until they received orders. Weibin said it is a cruel tragedy whenever compatriots (同胞 literally “from the same womb”) fight.

The second cabbie was named Xiaoping (小平), who denied any connection to historic figures. Xiaoping first came to Shenzehn in 1993, a year after his non-namesake’s visit jumpstarted the post-Tian’anmen Chinese boom.  Cabbie Xiaoping left Shenzhen after 6 months to work with hometown friends in Xiamen. He returned to Shenzhen two years ago, but can’t find any of his earlier haunts; it is not the same city.

June 7 update: John Ford discusses the relationship between labor and 1989 more concretely, here, reminding us that the past twenty years have been about keeping labor in its place, even when people move around.

In a related post, Lyn Jeffrey neatly summerizes the different challenges that unemployed students and workers/migrants (might) pose to the government.

(Yes, in an internet world, I now read newspapers and blogs  like I watch television – I show up at a site (or a series), browse around, and follow interesting links, rather than reading today’s newspaper or watching a show on the day it was broadcast/rerun…)