@article{ART003190861},
author={Lee Min Ja},
title={The Precarious Labor of Migrant Workers: Platform Labor in China},
journal={Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies},
issn={1225-8539},
year={2025},
volume={32},
number={1},
pages={33-61},
doi={10.18107/japs.2025.32.1.002}
TY - JOUR
AU - Lee Min Ja
TI - The Precarious Labor of Migrant Workers: Platform Labor in China
JO - Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies
PY - 2025
VL - 32
IS - 1
PB - Institute of Global Affairs
SP - 33
EP - 61
SN - 1225-8539
AB - The research subject of this paper is the labor characteristics of delivery riders employed in the food delivery industry, focusing on the concept of “unstable labor”, which has been used to study labor attributes in the past. The purpose of this study is to examine why some people in China are employed as food delivery riders in the platform economy and to explain their labor characteristics.
To achieve this research objective, the following three questions were asked: First, why are the majority of food delivery riders from the new generation of migrant workers who worked in manufacturing and construction? I introduced the background of their transition to becoming food delivery riders. Second, I examined three aspects: employment type, wage level, and social insurance subscription. The research revealed that food delivery riders are in an “unstable labor” situation. Third, I examined how the artificial intelligence (AI) development strategy promoted by the Chinese government threatens the jobs of platform workers. Through this analysis I hope to understand the situation in which new generation workers are forced to live in urban poverty, with unstable employment and no path to upward social mobility even as they escape manufacturing and move to become food delivery riders.
KW - Platform Labor;Food Delivery Riders;New Generation Migrant Workers;Precarious Labor;Meituan(美團)
DO - 10.18107/japs.2025.32.1.002
ER -
Lee Min Ja. (2025). The Precarious Labor of Migrant Workers: Platform Labor in China. Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies, 32(1), 33-61.
Lee Min Ja. 2025, "The Precarious Labor of Migrant Workers: Platform Labor in China", Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies, vol.32, no.1 pp.33-61. Available from: doi:10.18107/japs.2025.32.1.002
Lee Min Ja "The Precarious Labor of Migrant Workers: Platform Labor in China" Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies 32.1 pp.33-61 (2025) : 33.
Lee Min Ja. The Precarious Labor of Migrant Workers: Platform Labor in China. 2025; 32(1), 33-61. Available from: doi:10.18107/japs.2025.32.1.002
Lee Min Ja. "The Precarious Labor of Migrant Workers: Platform Labor in China" Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies 32, no.1 (2025) : 33-61.doi: 10.18107/japs.2025.32.1.002
Lee Min Ja. The Precarious Labor of Migrant Workers: Platform Labor in China. Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies, 32(1), 33-61. doi: 10.18107/japs.2025.32.1.002
Lee Min Ja. The Precarious Labor of Migrant Workers: Platform Labor in China. Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies. 2025; 32(1) 33-61. doi: 10.18107/japs.2025.32.1.002
Lee Min Ja. The Precarious Labor of Migrant Workers: Platform Labor in China. 2025; 32(1), 33-61. Available from: doi:10.18107/japs.2025.32.1.002
Lee Min Ja. "The Precarious Labor of Migrant Workers: Platform Labor in China" Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies 32, no.1 (2025) : 33-61.doi: 10.18107/japs.2025.32.1.002
