{"title":"Chinese seafarers’ use of the Internet and social media to promote labor rights","authors":"Lijun Tang","doi":"10.1177/01171968231210327","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Research on seafarers and the Internet so far has focused primarily on Internet access onboard ships. It frames Internet access as a welfare issue concerning seafarers’ communication with their families. This paper expands the focus to examine how seafarers use the Internet and social media to build and extend their social networks for reciprocal support and solidarity. Taking a case study approach, this paper examines two cases of Chinese seafarers protecting their rights online. The data were collected from relevant Internet and social media sites in 2022. The two cases demonstrate that the Internet and social media provide social spaces for Chinese seafarers to expand their social networks and form online professional communities, which afford them new resources to defend their rights and protect their interests. In the context that the Chinese seafarers’ union does not function to represent and help seafarers in labor and employment matters, these resources are particularly salient.","PeriodicalId":46248,"journal":{"name":"Asian and Pacific Migration Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Asian and Pacific Migration Journal","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01171968231210327","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"DEMOGRAPHY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Research on seafarers and the Internet so far has focused primarily on Internet access onboard ships. It frames Internet access as a welfare issue concerning seafarers’ communication with their families. This paper expands the focus to examine how seafarers use the Internet and social media to build and extend their social networks for reciprocal support and solidarity. Taking a case study approach, this paper examines two cases of Chinese seafarers protecting their rights online. The data were collected from relevant Internet and social media sites in 2022. The two cases demonstrate that the Internet and social media provide social spaces for Chinese seafarers to expand their social networks and form online professional communities, which afford them new resources to defend their rights and protect their interests. In the context that the Chinese seafarers’ union does not function to represent and help seafarers in labor and employment matters, these resources are particularly salient.
期刊介绍:
The Asian and Pacific Migration Journal (APMJ) was launched in 1992, borne out of the conviction of the need to have a migration journal originating from the region that would provide a regional perspective of migration. Users will be able to read any article published from 1992 to 2006, to search all the articles by words or keywords and to copy or print partially or fully any article.