Experiences of Forced Labour among UK-Based Chinese Migrant Workers: Exploring Vulnerability and Protection in Times of Empire

Abstract

In this chapter, we use the work of Hardt and Negri (2000, 2004, 2009) to explore experiences of labour as embedded in networks. First, we outline the project briefly. Secondly, we highlight Hardt and Negri’s theoretical concepts. Thirdly, we present excerpts from the data, which illustrate the networked nature of the workers. We argue that analysis needs to look beyond seeing workers as vulnerable and individualised units. Families are central to ways in which workers enact work decisions and community practices. The data we present here are based on qualitative interviews with Chinese workers. There is much debate about the status and definitions ascribed to this group of workers, and our sample contained undocumented, ‘unauthorised’ workers, including student visa and work permit overstayers. The methodology and partnership between the university and the social enterprise Wai Yin, who helped to define the research and carry out the work, are reported elsewhere (Kagan et al., 2011). Our partnership approach, working with a social enterprise, is seemingly in line with the position of the intellectual as advocated by Hardt and Negri:

The intellectual is and only can be a militant, engaged as a singularity among others, embarked on the project of co-research aimed at making the multitude. The intellectual is thus not ‘out in front’ to determine the movements of history or ‘on the sidelines’ to critique them but rather completely ‘inside’. (2004: 118)