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Legal Liminality: the gender and labour politics of organising South Korea's irregular workforce

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  • Jennifer Jihye Chun

Abstract

Irregular employment (bij[ocheck]nggyujik) has become the dominant form of employment in South Korea, with upwards of 70% of women employed in this sector. This transformation has not only affected the demographics of the labour market, but it has also fundamentally reshaped how unions can organise workers and build collective power. In particular, irregular workers are faced with a state of legal liminality in which workers are neither fully protected by nor fully denied the rights of formal employment, resulting in classification struggles over the terms and conditions of irregular employment. Drawing from recent cases, this paper discusses the limits of masculinised forms of labour militancy and the prospects for developing more inclusive forms of unionism across gender and employment status. Interrogating how workers and their collective organisations are challenging the ‘legal liminality’ associated with downgraded forms of irregular employment is crucial for understanding the new dynamics of economic marginality and social exclusion in Korea as well as in the broader global economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer Jihye Chun, 2009. "Legal Liminality: the gender and labour politics of organising South Korea's irregular workforce," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 535-550.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ctwqxx:v:30:y:2009:i:3:p:535-550
    DOI: 10.1080/01436590902742313
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    Cited by:

    1. Ewa Palenga‐Möllenbeck, 2022. "Making Migrants’ Input Invisible: Intersections of Privilege and Otherness From a Multilevel Perspective," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(1), pages 184-193.
    2. Cubides Kovacsics, M.I. & Santos, W. & Siegmann, K.A., 2021. "Sex workers’ everyday security in the Netherlands and the impact of COVID-19," ISS Working Papers - General Series 689, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    3. Kyung-Eun Yang, 2018. "Unequal Chance of Obtaining a Secure Job: Marriage Migrant Women in the Korean Labor Market," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 91-110, February.
    4. Gadi NISSIM & David DE VRIES, 2014. "Permanent liminality: The impact of non-standard forms of employment on workers' committees in Israel," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 153(3), pages 435-454, September.

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