Power, gender and ‘network-based cooperation’: A study of migrant workers in Shenzhen

Abstract

Drawing on research among rural migrants who work together in a Shenzhen factory, this chapter explores the role of power in cooperative relationships. Power should not be ignored in the study of cooperation, perhaps especially in China where network-based cooperation is very prevalent. The chapter looks specifically at cooperation from a gender perspective. It argues that in the factory context, a workable cooperation mechanism is gendered and must be negotiable for all the parties involved. With regard to the work itself, migrant workers need to cooperate even more. The chapter presents three cases, those of Hu, Huahua and Xiaojuan, to elaborate three typical types of female cooperation in the factory, and then reflects on the picture of power relations in cooperation depicted by some feminist scholars. In network-based cooperation, there are bound to be differences in power. A ‘head’ must emerge to organize the network.