Gangs and the gig economy: triads, precarity and illicit work in Hong Kong

Fraser, A. (2023) Gangs and the gig economy: triads, precarity and illicit work in Hong Kong. British Journal of Criminology, (doi: 10.1093/bjc/azad018) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

Paid employment in the criminal economy is, in many ways, the essence of precarious labour yet to date criminological work on the so-called ‘gig economy’ is scarce. Here we apply emergent sociological literature on ‘post-Fordist’ working cultures to precarious youth employment in Hong Kong, arguing: (1) recent reorganizations of labour markets towards flexible entrepreneurship are mirrored in the illicit economy; (2) a shift in structural features of triad gangs has led to a parallel form of ‘network sociality’; and (3) triad-affiliated youth remained rooted in place-based ‘communities of practice’ that form a point of difference from existing theory. In concluding, we reflect on the implications of these arguments for the study of illicit economies, triads and post-Fordist working cultures.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and Hong Kong Research Grants Council (award ES/K010409/1).
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Fraser, Professor Alistair
• Authors: Fraser, A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
• Journal Name: British Journal of Criminology
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISSN: 0007-0955
• ISSN (Online): 1464-3529
• Published Online: 30 May 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in the British Journal of Criminology 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
168561		(Re)imaginging youth: a comparative sociology of Scotland and Hong Kong	Susan Batchelor	Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)	ES/K010409/1	S&PS - Social Centre for Criminal Justice Research