Defending workers' rights on social media: Chinese seafarers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This paper explores the power dynamics in the process of Chinese seafarers' labour rights defence activities on social media during the crew change crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It shows that while exercising symbolic power is at the core of such activities, the effectiveness of symbolic power depends on the networking/distributing power of hub nodes and associational power of the maritime community to help generate visibility. The hub nodes, however, are subject to tight control in China, and as such, their ability to deploy networking/distributing power is constrained. This suggests that worker power is conditioned by sociopolitical factors.