Bringing class back in: class consciousness and solidarity among Chinese migrant workers in Italy and the UK

Abstract

The growing literature on international migration has a tendency to emphasize homogenous elements such as shared ethnic background, social network and cultural similarities in shaping immigrants' identity. We argue that this underestimates the differences (and sometimes conflicts) of interests between ethnic employers and migrant workers and that class needs to be brought back into the studies of ethnic relationship. Based upon findings from a series of fieldwork in Veneto, Italy and East Midlands, UK, this article contends that class consciousness has co-existed, sometimes uneasily, alongside co-ethnic and cultural relationships among Chinese migrant workers and has played an important part in the making of new Chinese communities. By analysing the perspectives of Chinese migrant workers and their relationship with co-ethnic entrepreneurs, this article illustrates complex factors behind the formation, diffusion and development of class consciousness among Chinese migrant workers.

Keywords:

• international migration
• Chinese migrant workers
• class consciousness
• labour standards
• class solidarity
• transnationalism

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank anonymous reviewers as well as Professor Min Zhou, Professor Steve Tsang, Professor Bernadette Robinson, Dr Shirley Sun, Dr Andreas Fulda and Ms Ruoxing Wu for their constructive comments on revising the paper. The authors are solely responsible for the interpretations and any remaining errors in this article.

Funding

International Labour Organization, University of Padova and local Councils of Venice and Padova provided funding support for our fieldwork in East Midlands, the UK (2009) and Veneto, Italy (2006), respectively. Special thanks are given to Dr Valter Zanin, Ms Lan Guo, Mr Rogers Plant and Ms Yun for their participation and contribution to the fieldwork. Hong Liu is grateful to Nanyang Technological University for a research grant [grant number: M58100049] that enabled him to undertake related research.

Notes

1. Hsiao-Hung Pai (2008) mentioned that the control of Chinese labour is multinational, and even though some of the agents are ethnic Chinese (from outside China, including Malaysians), others are non-Chinese.

2. With respect to gender differences, it seemed that male workers in our interviews were significantly stronger in class consciousness than female in terms of the number of interviewees who expressed clearly their opinions about the differences between co-ethnic entrepreneurs and workers. Owing to the limit of words, it is difficult for us to discuss this dimension in detail.

3. According to our observation, many Chinese family workshops did not register their businesses with local authorities. Of those not registering, the majority only recruited a few (three to five) Chinese workers.

4. See Wu and Sheehan (2011) for a detailed comparison of working conditions between Chinese-owned and Italian-owned factories in Veneto.

Additional information

Funding

Funding: International Labour Organization, University of Padova and local Councils of Venice and Padova provided funding support for our fieldwork in East Midlands, the UK (2009) and Veneto, Italy (2006), respectively. Special thanks are given to Dr Valter Zanin, Ms Lan Guo, Mr Rogers Plant and Ms Yun for their participation and contribution to the fieldwork. Hong Liu is grateful to Nanyang Technological University for a research grant [grant number: M58100049] that enabled him to undertake related research.

Notes on contributors

Bin Wu

BIN WU is a Senior Research Fellow in School of Contemporary Chinese Studies, University of Nottingham.

Hong Liu

HONG LIU is a Professor of Asian Studies and the Chair of School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University.