The Spatial Identity Right: The Citizenization of Peasant-turned-citizen

The citizenization of peasant-turned-citizens is the important content of promoting the urbanization in China. Considering the separation of identity and rights in the practice of citizenization, the existing research that mainly focusing on cultural adaptation and identity transformation of peasant-turned-citizens, is insufficient. The citizenization of peasant-turned-citizens based on “spatial identity right” empowers the peasant-turned-citizen based on the urban space, project space and village space. What they get is not the “citizen rights” based on the general identity, but a complex set of rights based on the multiple empowerment logic of spatial identity, including a group of basic rights, special welfare and scarce benefits. The framework of “spatial identity right” clarifies the reasons for the right defect of peasant-turned-citizens from the perspective of right source and empowerment logic, enriches the discussion on multiple logics of citizen empowerment, and introduces the dimension of action for the construction of civil rights.