摘要
Abstract
Despite recent achievements in the South Korean economy and development within welfare institutions,new forms of precarious work continue to prevail.This study conceptualizes and introduces"melting labour"as a phenomenon in which the boundaries between traditional labour forms and workplaces are blurred and standard employment relationships are dismantled.It presents a theoretical framework that explains how various precarious labour groups emerge at the intersection of melting labour and institutional protections for workers.The main argument is that the welfare system has failed to adapt to the changed economic and social structure and melting labour,and has become rigid in its traditional form and is gradually becoming obsolete.This paper utilizes a newly developed theoretical framework to analyze how and why the legal system,which is supposed to protect workers,has proven inadequate.Based on in-depth interviews with over 80 precarious workers in South Korea,spanning subcontracted manufacturing workers to platform workers,this study describes the process by which workers lose control over their lives and experience precarity in the labour market.As melting labour expands,the welfare system"drifts"and fails to protect workers,and various precarious labour groups are identified.Finally,this study categorizes precarious labour into"old losers,""new losers,"and"slowly revealing losers,"and suggests solidarity and alliance strategies for welfare system reform and new class studies.关键词
不稳定劳动者/政策漂移/液化劳动/韩国福利国家Key words
precarious worker/policy drift/melting labour/South Korean welfare state
