545
Labour in the Global South
Abstract Submissions Closed
RC44 Labor Movements (host committee)
Language: English
Session Type: Oral
This session invites researchers to analyze various forms of labor subcontracting and independent contracting as well as their consequences for China. Through the lens of informalization, marketization, and the regulatory role of the state, we seek to understand the changing relations between formal and informal employment in the public and private sectors, and the intertwined spheres of production and social reproduction.
Since 2007/2008, the Chinese government has sought to limit the use and abuse of agency workers (also known as dispatch workers) and student interns (from vocational schools or colleges) in enterprises. Recently it has further sought to regulate the explosive growth of couriers, food delivery workers, and ride-hailing drivers in the emerging platform economy, who are (mis)classified as independent contractors rather than employees. How are recruitment, gender division of labor, work discipline, job training, promotion, and conversion to formal employee status taking place? How are subcontract workers deployed to undermine labor solidarity and enhance corporate flexibility?
In a broader political economy, how do outsourced workers and independent contractors—many of whom have no social insurance—earn their living? Have they mobilized to press local authorities to grant access to public housing, health care, and other social services? What are the outcomes?
Comparative research on informalization of employment in state and non-state sectors, manufacturing and service jobs, and in coastal and interior regions are welcome. We will examine the dynamics of protest and acquiescence in response to informalization, and explore the possibilities of workplace- and community-based organizing.