Using fieldwork data from Taiwanese-owned factories in Malaysia and Vietnam, the authors argue that the labour regime based on ethnic division of labour is a function of the degree of proletarianization, which depends on the state’s policies and one’s social capital. State policy protects native Malay and Vietnamese, and excludes the rights of migrant workers, regardless of whether these migrant workers are skilled or unskilled. Local ethnic Chinese, with higher social capital, find themselves somewhere between the two poles.

Authors: I-chun Kung and Hong-zen Wang from the National Chi Nan University, Taiwan.