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Unregulated Flexibility and the Multiplication of Labour: Work in the Chinese Platform Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Jing Wang

    (Department of Sociology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR))

  • Quan Meng

    (School of Labour Relations and Human Resources, China University of Labour Relations, China)

Abstract

The global labour market is witnessing an increase in non‐standard employment, and China is no exception, albeit with distinct socio‐political dynamics. This research explores the variation of employment relations in China’s platform economy and discusses how the various types of precarious employment are generated and developed in post‐socialist China. Based on interviews with platform company managers and platform food delivery workers in China, this study draws a broader picture of platform work, considering the complex layers of labour practices at the level of platform companies and platform work. The research discusses the various labour arrangements in the ZZ food delivery platform and finds that variation serves to intensify and diversify managerial practices in platform work; at the same time, traditional types of work in platform companies are also undergoing transitions and the boundary between internal and external organisations is increasingly blurred and fluid. Labour relations in the platform economy are characterised by multiplication, and this multiplication is facilitated by the post‐socialist Chinese labour market’s general trend towards precariousness and the state’s tolerant approach to various non‐standard employment types in the era of “the new normal.”

Suggested Citation

  • Jing Wang & Quan Meng, 2024. "Unregulated Flexibility and the Multiplication of Labour: Work in the Chinese Platform Economy," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 12.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v12:y:2024:a:7719
    DOI: 10.17645/si.7719
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Liu, Zhiqiang, 2005. "Institution and inequality: the hukou system in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 133-157, March.
    2. K. Sabeel Rahman & Kathleen Thelen, 2019. "The Rise of the Platform Business Model and the Transformation of Twenty-First-Century Capitalism," Politics & Society, , vol. 47(2), pages 177-204, June.
    3. Eli Friedman & Ching Kwan Lee, 2010. "Remaking the World of Chinese Labour: A 30‐Year Retrospective," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(3), pages 507-533, September.
    4. Martin Kenney & John Zysman, 2020. "The platform economy: restructuring the space of capitalist accumulation," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 13(1), pages 55-76.
    5. Will Sutherland & Mohammad Hossein Jarrahi & Michael Dunn & Sarah Beth Nelson, 2020. "Work Precarity and Gig Literacies in Online Freelancing," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(3), pages 457-475, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Adam Formby & Mustapha Sheikh & Bob Jeffery, 2024. "The Global Disappearance of Decent Work? Precarity, Exploitation, and Work‐Based Harms in the Neoliberal Era," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 12.

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