Labor and the Labor Movement: Southeast Asia

Abstract

The history of labor in Southeast Asia is entwined with the history of migration and is best understood against the backdrop of the region’s greater integration into the global economy during two main periods. The first was the colonial period (1870-1940) and the second, after the 1970s. During the first period, six major states, namely, Burma, Indonesia, Malaya (including Singapore), Indochina, the Philippines and Thailand, emerged as a result of Western imperial activity and were transformed by massive waves of immigration, primarily from China, India and Indonesia. Labor and the labor movement prior to 1940 had its roots in empire-led globalization, state intervention and market forces, demographic patterns, and political and economic frameworks in the region. Accelerated capitalist globalization since the 1970s, the growth of the labor market, increased labor migration and the disproportionate representation of women in the non full-time workforce, are characteristic features of the second period. The two periods are linked by five main strands –globalization, demographic patterns, migratory movements, labor systems and economic change. These intersect with the strategies and capacities of states, firms and workers and integrates with gender relations and social networks. Changes in labor processes and the labor movement thus continue to be determined by the interplay between global capitalism, the types of commodities/services traded in the international economy, regional integration and the availability of labor.