Труд и занятость в сфере сбора и переработки мусора в странах Юго-Восточной Азии (кейсы Вьетнама и Камбоджи)

Социология власти. 2025. Т. 37. № 1. С. 62–81.

Grigoreva N.

The article analyzes materials on the nature of labor in the context of informal waste recovery in two neighboring Southeast Asian countries — Cambodia and Vietnam. Based on qualitative analysis of primary and secondary sources, the study shows that this type of labor falls under the category of “peripheral employment” and that its participants form a part of the precariat, i.e., a group of workers who are permanently engaged in temporary work in the shadow sector of the labor market. In the countries studied, this type of employment has gender, age, ethnic, and territorial specificities and often results from a conscious choice by many adult participants in favor of a degree of independence from the employer and a certain freedom in organizing their work and private lives. The voluntary marginalization of some waste pickers can be compared to the life strategies of the Zomia inhabitants: they employ various means to achieve economic and social autonomy — creating business relationships and self-organized communities outside the formal economy, while also adapting readily to change. Despite the lack of social protection and ongoing stigmatization, persistence and entrepreneurial spirit enable some to approach middle-class income levels through self-run enterprises. While informal employment in the waste-management sector in Southeast Asia occurs mainly in cities, it also profoundly affects rural life. Involvement in the “waste business” has increased the mobility of many rural residents and strengthened their connections to cities. In addition, the case of Vietnam shows the emergence of new “craft villages” specialized in collecting and recycling certain types of waste.

Keywords: Юго-Восточная Азия, неформальная занятость, Вьетнам, прекариат, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, precariat, informal employment, Камбоджа, Cambodia, waste collection and recycling, сбор и переработка отходов