[Mini-symposium] Vietnamese Migrant Workers in Japan and the UK
Wed 05 Jul
|Room 711, Building 19, Waseda University
A roundtable discussion (in-person and online) with Dr. An Huy Tran (Bielefeld University), Dr. Sebastian Rumsby (Queen Mary University of London) and Dr. Aimi Muranaka (Duisburg-Essen University) on Vietnamese migration workers. *Refreshments provided* ** This event will be recorded
![[Mini-symposium] Vietnamese Migrant Workers in Japan and the UK](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a6584c_90fc1e65ab7c41758b5bde9769ee9463~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_980,h_515,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/a6584c_90fc1e65ab7c41758b5bde9769ee9463~mv2.png)
Date and Venue
05 Jul 2023, 18:00 – 20:00 GMT+9
Room 711, Building 19, Waseda University, Japan, 〒169-0051 Tokyo, Shinjuku City, Nishiwaseda, 1-chōme−21−１ 早稲田大学 西早稲田ビルディング
About the Event
1) Breaking the ties that bind? Refashioning patron-client relations among Vietnamese migrant workers in the UK - Dr. Sebastian Rumsby
Estimates of the number of undocumented and semi-documented Vietnamese migrants who have entered the UK in the past two decades vary wildly from 20,000 to 50,000. This influx has been facilitated by a corresponding boom in Vietnamese-run nail salons which have spread to every city and town across the UK. Punitive post-Brexit immigration policies and controls force irregular Vietnamese migrants to work 'under the radar' in ethnic enclaves, putting them at risk of police raids, fines and possible deportation. This paper explores the ambivalent and evolving power relationships between Vietnamese nail salon bosses and their co-ethnic workers, as discourses of solidarity and patronage clash with accusations of exploitation and ingratitude. I frame these tensions within the neoliberal governance of precarious migrant labour which has the potential to undermine or refashion…