Can you imagine that the machines we used for experiment in the 2010s were actually the 1990s model? None featured computer numerical control, not to mention programming. How come we can adapt to the new system?
Economic Restructuring as Masculinity Crisis and Gender-Based Differentiation
Economic restructuring in time of crisis has not only changed the skill landscape of the labour market, which in turn gives rise to the skill-based mode of differentiation; it further engendered a masculinity crisis among male migrant workers, making gender an especially important factor in work-related decisions among them. Gender-based differentiation here is rooted mainly in hegemonic gender norms in China where men should be the breadwinner of the family; they should be youchuxi<sup>7</sup> in order to get married and pay for bride price; and that men should do jobs that allow them more control over the situation. Such gender norms not only play an important role in channelling migrant workers to informal platform jobs, but also help sustain overwork and hyper-exploitation as the emerging norm in these sectors, from which they painstakingly suffer.
8 MIGRATION, PRECARITY AND SOLIDARITY AMONG
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<sup>7</sup> Have one’s own career and power.