TY - JOUR
T1 - As far apart as earth and sky: a survey of Chinese and Cambodian construction workers in Sihanoukville
AU - Franceschini, Ivan
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Although much has been written about China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), so far little attention has been paid to how Chinese investment is affecting workers in BRI-targeted countries. To explore this dimension of global China, this paper examines the labor rights situation at Chinese-owned construction sites in Sihanoukville, a city on the Cambodian coast that in recent years has been described as embodying the worst excesses of Chinese foreign investment. Based on extensive interviews with Chinese and Cambodian workers, this paper argues that while Chinese-owned construction sites in Cambodia are grounded in a labor regime as exploitative as those in mainland China, workers' agency in the former case is further undermined by their employers' adoption of a policy of labor force dualism that draws boundaries between Chinese and Cambodian workers.
AB - Although much has been written about China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), so far little attention has been paid to how Chinese investment is affecting workers in BRI-targeted countries. To explore this dimension of global China, this paper examines the labor rights situation at Chinese-owned construction sites in Sihanoukville, a city on the Cambodian coast that in recent years has been described as embodying the worst excesses of Chinese foreign investment. Based on extensive interviews with Chinese and Cambodian workers, this paper argues that while Chinese-owned construction sites in Cambodia are grounded in a labor regime as exploitative as those in mainland China, workers' agency in the former case is further undermined by their employers' adoption of a policy of labor force dualism that draws boundaries between Chinese and Cambodian workers.
U2 - 10.1080/14672715.2020.1804961
DO - 10.1080/14672715.2020.1804961
M3 - Article
SN - 1467-2715
VL - 52
SP - 512
EP - 529
JO - Critical Asian Studies
JF - Critical Asian Studies
IS - 4
ER -