Digital-regional capital: Digitally enhanced bonds between Chinese internal migrants and their hometowns

This study proposes a Bourdieusian theory of digital-regional capital to explore the mediated bond between migrants and their hometowns, addressing an under-studied issue in the context of transregional mobility while filling a gap in the spatial dimension of prior digital capital studies. Focusing on the interplay among digital capital, internal migration, and the development of rural and inland regions in China, this research conducts interviews with 48 internal migrants and 2 government representatives, examining how China’s techno-nationalism/regionalism, combined with various digital platforms, particularly WeChat’s dominant role, has co-shaped digital-regional capital. Key findings reveal that state-led and decentralized technological advancements have equipped Chinese internal migrants with crucial digital capital, enabling their engagements in online networks and economic activities. Thus, migrants can effectively convert their resources into consumption and investments that benefit their hometowns, forming digital-regional capital. However, economic, gendered, and generational disparities create unequal access to and benefits of digital-regional capital.