TY - JOUR
T1 - Negotiating precarious labour relations
T2 - dynamics of vulnerability and reciprocity between Chinese employers and their migrant workers in Santiago, Chile
AU - Chan, Carol
AU - Ramírez, Carolina
AU - Stefoni, Carolina
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2019/7/4
Y1 - 2019/7/4
N2 - Precarious labour research has highlighted the multidimensional factors shaping migrants’ vulnerability to labour exploitation. This article takes a different approach by attending to the possible reciprocity in labour relations– despite unequal power dynamics– particularly when workplaces are small and involve daily interactions between migrant workers and migrant employers. Methodology is based on observations in Chinese-run retail shops and restaurants in Santiago, and interviews with Chinese employers and their Latin American migrant employees of diverse backgrounds. Proposing the concept of “precarious labour relations”, we examine the independent and shared uncertainties between migrant employers and workers who are differently marginalized through race/migrant status axes in Chile. Analyzing dynamics of hierarchy, (mis)trust, and reciprocity in how these actors negotiate precarity and security as workers and/or migrants, we complicate dichotomies of exploitation and resistance in migrant labour research, by foregrounding the multidimensional relationship between employers and workers when both are racialized migrants and minorities.
AB - Precarious labour research has highlighted the multidimensional factors shaping migrants’ vulnerability to labour exploitation. This article takes a different approach by attending to the possible reciprocity in labour relations– despite unequal power dynamics– particularly when workplaces are small and involve daily interactions between migrant workers and migrant employers. Methodology is based on observations in Chinese-run retail shops and restaurants in Santiago, and interviews with Chinese employers and their Latin American migrant employees of diverse backgrounds. Proposing the concept of “precarious labour relations”, we examine the independent and shared uncertainties between migrant employers and workers who are differently marginalized through race/migrant status axes in Chile. Analyzing dynamics of hierarchy, (mis)trust, and reciprocity in how these actors negotiate precarity and security as workers and/or migrants, we complicate dichotomies of exploitation and resistance in migrant labour research, by foregrounding the multidimensional relationship between employers and workers when both are racialized migrants and minorities.
KW - Chinese employers
KW - Latin American migrants
KW - Precarity
KW - labour relations
KW - reciprocity
KW - space
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85067659307&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/01419870.2019.1579919
DO - 10.1080/01419870.2019.1579919
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85067659307
SN - 0141-9870
VL - 42
SP - 1456
EP - 1475
JO - Ethnic and Racial Studies
JF - Ethnic and Racial Studies
IS - 9
ER -