Learning to Labor: Social Media and Migrant Labor Protection in Mainland China

Professor Pun, Ngai   (Project Coordinator (PC))

Professor So Alvin YC   (Co-principal investigator)

Dr Koo Ching Hua   (Co-principal investigator)

Dr Qiu Jack Linchuan   (Co-principal investigator)

42

2016-06-30

4373732

Learning to Labor: Social Media and Migrant Labor Protection in Mainland China

labor protection, migrant youth, new form of organizing, social media, student intern

Sociology,Media and Communication

C5010-15G

Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) - Group Research Project

2015

Completed

1. To synthesize existing social sciences literature with communication and media theories about working-class public sphere and its relation to new working subjects and social protection; 2. To develop a novel theoretical framework for the understanding of life-world of new labor subjects in vocational schools and sites of internship (workplaces) with specific focus on collective, network, and organizational levels; 3. To conduct longitudinal study to uncover social structure and class background of vocational students with specific focus on age, gender, family, rural or urban origin, habitus of communication, methods of learning and use of social media; 4. To study the nature of 'learning' and 'becoming' processes through social media programs in vocational schools and the sites of internship, and study how these programs shape students' identity as well as prepare ground for collectivity, negotiation of conflicts and social activism; 5. To build a ""senseware"" for migrant labor protection and to disseminate knowledge generated in this program among not only academic and public policy circles but also NGOs, activists, and student-workers through training sessions, online engagement, and participatory action research. A long-term multimedia and learning progrm on labor rights protection will be designed and used in vocational schools countrywide.