Description
At a time when precarious labor is on the rise on a global scale, Young and Restless in China explores both the institutional and the individual processes that lead to informal employment and the clustering of the 'great gods' (dashen) – migrant workers, mostly male and born in the 1990s, who are disappointed by exploitative factories and thus choose short-term employment and day labor – in urban migrant communities. Based on ethnographic studies in two of those communities in China, this book analyzes the gendered and gendering aspects of labor, reveals the different processes of precarization among workers, and discusses the role of the diverse intermediaries who both sustain workers' livelihoods and reproduce their precarity.
Table of Contents
List of figures; Preface; 1. Introduction: the great gods of Sanhe and the precariat in China; 2. Boundary setting: the formation of an identity; 3. Stay or run: the perpetual question; 4. Like riding a roller coaster: money, illegality, and relationship; 5. Curb your enthusiasm: gender, sex, and sexuality; 6. Conclusion: young and restless in China: a precarious future; Bibliography; Appendix: reflections on experiences in the field.
