Sweatshops and Assembly Halls
The Class Composition of Indonesian Migrant Workers in Taiwan’s Manufacturing Industry For more than three decades, Taiwan has relied on
The Labour Party and Class Politics in Indonesia: An Analysis from Within
The decision of the Labour Party (“Partai Buruh”) to participate in the 2024 elections has brought the political agenda of
Street Vendors Are Workers, Too
Editor’s Note: Informality is the rule, not the exception. Not only are the majority of workers in Asia working in
COR Ep.7: How to Make Sense of Our Current Moment?
A conversation between the co-hosts, Kiang and Kevin zoom out and take stock of the economic and political moment our
Against Labour Law Reforms
Editor’s Note: To get themselves out of economic stagnation and crisis, governments across Asia have been trying to push through
Sweatshops and Assembly Halls
The Class Composition of Indonesian Migrant Workers in Taiwan’s Manufacturing Industry For more than three decades, Taiwan has relied on
The Labour Party and Class Politics in Indonesia: An Analysis from Within
The decision of the Labour Party (“Partai Buruh”) to participate in the 2024 elections has brought the political agenda of
Street Vendors Are Workers, Too
Editor’s Note: Informality is the rule, not the exception. Not only are the majority of workers in Asia working in
COR Ep.7: How to Make Sense of Our Current Moment?
A conversation between the co-hosts, Kiang and Kevin zoom out and take stock of the economic and political moment our
Transport Unions’ Global Strategy for Safety and Solidarity
On September 23, over 1,000 truck drivers from across South Korea rallied in front of the National Assembly building in
COR Ep.6 – Gig Workers Rising: Grab Couriers’ Self-Organization in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam
One logistics and food delivery platform company, Grab, dominates almost the entirety of Southeast Asian markets. In this two-part conversation,
Against Labour Law Reforms
Editor’s Note: To get themselves out of economic stagnation and crisis, governments across Asia have been trying to push through
Stop the Flow of Goods and Change the World: Korean Truckers Lead Global Campaign on Safe Rates
Editor’s Note: Logistics and transportation workers are among the most militant workers in the world. By exercising their disruptive power
Five Books on Labour and Ecology
Call it Anthropocene, call it Capitalocene, call it Plantationocene, our scorching planetary age results from the conjoined forces of colonial extractivism, fossil capitalism, and postcolonial developmentalism.
Precarity and Protest in Neoliberal Sri Lanka
Editor’s Note: For months since March 2022, mass protests engulfed the crisis-stricken Sri Lanka amid food and fuel shortages and
Farewell, Picun! On the Closing of China’s Museum of Working Culture and Art
Editor’s Note: On May 18, a migrant labour museum in Picun (literally, Pi Village) on the outskirts of Beijing, China，
On the Mae Sot Borderland
Interviewer’s note: For several decades, the town of Mae Sot along the Myanmar border in northwest Thailand has been the
Capital’s Repressive Apparatus: Privatised Violence Against Labour in Indonesia
In Indonesia, predatory alliances of politicians and businesses were established during the 32-year New Order era under Soeharto and survived
Unravelling the Hidden Underpinnings of Capitalism: revisiting labour regimes and value chains in globalised production
What are the analytical tools with which we can best understand the changing organisation of work in globalised production? This review essay revisits and contextualises critical concepts such as labour regime and value chains as discussed in two recent outstanding publications.
How Urbanizing the Population Deepened China’s Rural-Urban Divide in Migrant Schooling
As China urbanizes, its system of household registration, hukou, continues to exacerbate social, economic and educational inequalities for rural migrant workers and their children.
Building Power Through Associations: Experience of Grab Drivers in Malaysia
In Malaysia, where the number of vehicles outnumbers the human population and has one of the highest car ownership rates in the world, traffic congestion and mobility are plaguing issues.
Stories from Below: Organic Leaders and Dilemmas of Grassroots Organizing in Thailand
Researchers have increasingly recognized the potential of self-organizing activities among gig workers such as couriers and food delivery riders. Nevertheless,
Horizons of Labor Organizing in Post-Coup Myanmar: Grab Riders on Strike
At midnight on 14 March 2022, Grab Myanmar announced that it was reducing food delivery drivers’ pay from 800 MMKs
“Mercedes in Two Years?” Grab Workers’ Mounting Discontent and Wildcat Strikes in Vietnam
In a country in which traditional motorbike services, colloquially known as xe om, are a popular mode of transport, Grab
Resistance is Possible: Lives of Grab Workers in Indonesia
Some analysts of the platform-based gig economy have argued that the potential of gig workers to resist their exploitation is low. I want to show the opposite: it is not only possible to organise drivers to resist precarity - it is already happening.
A Brief History of Grab in Southeast Asia: transnationality, dominance and resistance
Platform companies operate transnationally. Should labour movements respond transnationally, too? Over the next few months, we will be publishing a Special Series on Grab in Southeast Asia to understand how Grab operates in different contexts, and what forms workers' organising and resistance have taken in each context.