Importance of “the Social”: The Divergent Informal Careers of Chinese Internal Migrants

Abstract

When investigating unregulated, unprotected work situations, the precarious work literature focuses on the degradation of work quality, whereas the informal sector literature emphasizes entrepreneurship and mobility. Neither of them, however, pays enough attention to how particular jobs are matched and how career paths evolve. Studying Chinese rural migrants’ informal careers, this research finds three strikingly different career paths. The “precariats” rely on peers to survive career disruptions, but the responsibility to support others leads to a new crisis. The “entrepreneurs” rely on their relatively resourceful families to start small businesses in a highly competitive and precarious market. The “guild” relies on hometown networks to share career information and reduce competition. This research hence draws a more optimistic picture than the precarious work literature as upward career opportunities do exist. Nonetheless, the picture is not as optimistic as the informal sector literature suggests because these opportunities are socially yet unevenly distributed.