As far apart as earth and sky: a survey of Chinese and Cambodian construction workers in Sihanoukville
Date
2020
Authors
Franceschini, Ivan
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Group
Abstract
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 Chineseowned 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.
Description
Keywords
Global China, BRI, Cambodia, labor rights, construction workers
Citation
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Source
Critical Asian Studies
Type
Journal article
Book Title
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License Rights
Restricted until
2099-12-31