…“While they [gig migrant-workers] desperately search for something worthy of their labor time and effort, they don’t have access to basic social security benefits,” says Jenny Chan, an associate professor of sociology at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. “It’s frustrating even when the local economy is slowly starting to revitalize.” Link to full content : https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1012368# belowContinue reading “Dr Jenny Chan speaks on gig manufacturing (Sixth Tone, by Peiyue Wu, 7 Mar 2023)”
Author Archives: Jenny Chan
Jenny Chan. 2023. Buy with 1-Click: Independent Contracting and Migrant Workers in China’s Last-Mile Parcel Delivery (The Asia-Pacific Journal)
Jenny Chan. 2023. “Buy with 1-Click: Independent Contracting and Migrant Workers in China’s Last-Mile Parcel Delivery.” The Asia-Pacific Journal 21(2): 1-18. Abstract: This article analyzes labor informality in the Chinese platform economy. Drawing on participant observation at a parcel delivery station in Beijing, the author discusses how individual and family lives are impacted by the hectic world ofContinue reading “Jenny Chan. 2023. Buy with 1-Click: Independent Contracting and Migrant Workers in China’s Last-Mile Parcel Delivery (The Asia-Pacific Journal)”
Dorothy J. Solinger, with Jenny Chan. 2022. Poverty and Pacification: A Conversation with Dorothy J. Solinger (Made in China Journal)
Dorothy J. Solinger with Jenny Chan Made in China Journal Volume 7, Issue 2, Jul–Dec 2022, pp. 183–190 Link to full content : https://madeinchinajournal.com/2023/01/19/prometheus-in-china/ PDF below (full text for download)
Jenny Chan. 2022. “The Foxconn Suicide Express.” Pp. 625-34 in Proletarian China: A Century of Chinese Labour, edited by Ivan Franceschini and Christian Sorace. (New York: Verso Books).
Jenny Chan. 2022. “The Foxconn Suicide Express.” Pp. 625-34 in Proletarian China: A Century of Chinese Labour, edited by Ivan Franceschini and Christian Sorace. New York: Verso Books. Link to the Book: https://madeinchinajournal.com/2021/12/01/proletarian-china/ With a workforce of more than one million in mainland China alone, the Taiwanese Foxconn Technology Group is a major contractor for Apple andContinue reading “Jenny Chan. 2022. “The Foxconn Suicide Express.” Pp. 625-34 in Proletarian China: A Century of Chinese Labour, edited by Ivan Franceschini and Christian Sorace. (New York: Verso Books).”
Jenny Chan. 2021. Hunger for profit: how food delivery platforms manage couriers in China (Sociologias)
Jenny Chan. 2021., Sociologias 23(57): 58-82. Abstract How do food delivery platform firms, such as Meituan (operated by Tencent) and Ele.me (owned by Alibaba), manage couriers through service contracting rather than formal employment? How do couriers experience control and autonomy at work? Using observation and interviews, the author finds that a combination of data-driven surveillance systemsContinue reading “Jenny Chan. 2021. Hunger for profit: how food delivery platforms manage couriers in China (Sociologias)”
Jenny Chan interviewed by Viola Zhou for Rest of World in “‘iPhones are Made in Hell’: 3 Months Inside China’s iPhone City,” 31 Jan 2023
Jenny Chan, a sociologist with Hong Kong Polytechnic University who has been studying labor issues at Foxconn since 2010… “Foxconn never aims at having a stable workforce with roots, social relations, solidarity, or bargaining power….” Chan told Rest of World. “These workers will not have a promotion path or really share the prosperity in China.” URL: https://restofworld.org/2023/foxconn-iphone-factory-china/
Dr Jenny Chan interviewed for The Financial Times on Apple in China (by Patrick McGee)
Part I: The Financial Times, 17 Jan 2023 How Apple tied its fortunes to China (PDF1) Part II: The Financial Times, 18 Jan 2023 What it would take for Apple to disentangle itself from China (PDF2) Jenny Chan, co-author of Dying for an iPhone, which details the lives of Foxconn workers who assemble Apple products, points outContinue reading “Dr Jenny Chan interviewed for The Financial Times on Apple in China (by Patrick McGee)”
Dr Jenny Chan publishes a chapter entitled “Buy with 1-Click” (2023)
With an eye on speedups of production and circulation in our digital economy, this chapter looks into the booming Chinese express delivery sector through the lens of the intersection of class, gender, and migrant labor. The author gratefully acknowledges the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation and the East and Inner Asia Council of the Association for AsianContinue reading “Dr Jenny Chan publishes a chapter entitled “Buy with 1-Click” (2023)”
Les ombres chinoises de la Silicon Valley (In the “out of sight, out of mind” podcast series)
20 Dec 2022 Link to full content website : https://audioblog.arteradio.com/blog/191250/podcast/195383/les-ombres-chinoises-de-la-silicon-valley# Crédits : Voix : Noé Duflo Voix additionnelle : William Zhou Texte : Jenny Chan, Celia Izoard, « La machine est ton seigneur et ton maître », Editions Agone, 2022 Intitulé de l’épisode : repris de la postface de Célia Izoard Musique : MC光光 & 法老,Continue reading “Les ombres chinoises de la Silicon Valley (In the “out of sight, out of mind” podcast series)”
As COVID-19 Surges in China, Sick Foxconn Workers are Still Making iPhones
Rest of World (Reporting Global Tech Stories) 19 Dec 2022 By Viola Zhou Jenny Chan, a sociologist with Hong Kong Polytechnic University who has studied labor conditions at Foxconn, said that as Covid-19 cases surge at the Zhengzhou plant, management faces a challenge taking care of workers while trying to accelerate production. “The iPhone City hasContinue reading “As COVID-19 Surges in China, Sick Foxconn Workers are Still Making iPhones”
Dying for an iPhone 