本研究分析家庭關係如何嵌入不穩定僱傭關係之中、並進而形塑建築女工的勞動處境。研究資料來源於在北京三個建築工地總共八個月的田野調查。本研究區分兩種建築業的勞力需求,即「穩定導向」和「彈性導向」,我發現,建築女工的家庭關係——親緣式、夫妻式、擬親緣式——各自因應兩種勞力需求,並進一步塑造女工各異的勞動保障、金錢權力和工作認同。基於此,我提出,家庭、建築業的不穩定僱傭關係、女工勞動處境這三者之間存在一個循環過程,此過程包括嵌入、選取、性別期待、認同、再製五個環節,這一循環過程有助於我們理解家庭作為不穩定僱傭關係和個人勞動處境之間的仲介,如何持續地發揮影響。據此,有別於對不穩定僱傭關係的討論中將家庭作為既定社會背景的思路,本研究認為,家庭本身形構並再製不穩定僱傭關係。另外,我也藉由中國建築女工的不穩定僱傭和家庭關係,試圖闡釋中國女工的勞動處境。
Based on an eight-month ethnographic study conducted on three construction sites in Beijing, this article aims to analyze how the family is embedded into the precarious employment relationship. I distinguish two types of labor demands in the building industry, namely “stability-oriented” and “flexibility-oriented”. And I found that three types of family relations cater to two labor demands respectively and further shape labor protection, money power, and work identity among women workers. I propose a circular process that details on how the family links the precarity and individual women workers. The circular process includes five parts, which I name as “Embeddedness”, “Selection”, “Gendered expectations”, “Identity”, and “Reproduction”. Through this circular process, I argue that women workers identify their labor as the contribution to the family and thus hardly recognize their precarious working conditions. This article provides a deeper understanding of the family in the making and the reproduction of the precarious employment relationships.