Watson Events

Sarah Swider -- Building China: Informal Workers in China's Construction Industry

"Building China: Informal Workers in China’s Construction Industry," with Sarah Swider,  Assistant Professor of Sociology, Wayne State University. 

This talk explores the rise of precarious (informal) work in China by presenting a case study of migrant workers in the construction industry. It shows how this work is diverse in terms of the labor market, working conditions and employment relations. A new concept, “employment configuration,” is introduced and used to categorize and theorize this diversity. It shows how workers under different employment configurations are, to different degrees, vulnerable not only in relation to their employers (precarious work) but also in relation to the state (precarious existence).

Location: McKinney Conference Room, Watson Institute, 111 Thayer Street.