Governing Flexibility: Discursive Construction of Linghuo Jiuye in China

• In Event: Organizations, Occupations, and Work Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 13: Precarious Work Contexts

Abstract

This paper explores how “flexible employment” (linghuo jiuye) has been articulated within China’s official discourse as a fluid and evolving category of labor governance over time. Research on informal and non-standard employment often highlights vulnerability, limited protection, and regulatory challenges, while also recognizing the role of informality in absorbing labor-market pressure during periods of restructuring. In China, linghuo jiuye has been used for an extended period to describe a wide range of employment arrangements outside standard labor contracts. However, less attention has been paid to how this category itself has been constructed and reworked within authoritative discourse.
The study draws primarily on an ongoing analysis of a longitudinal corpus of 1,295 People’s Daily articles published between 1995 and 2024. Using an exploratory mixed-methods approach, it combines computational text analysis with qualitative interpretation to trace patterns in how linghuo jiuye appears across different policy contexts and historical periods. The analysis examines recurring thematic associations, such as employment stabilization, entrepreneurship, social policy, and individual responsibility, and considers how shifts in framing may relate to broader political-economic conditions and governance concerns.
Preliminary observations suggest that flexible employment is consistently discussed in relation to employment pressure and labor-market adjustment, while gradually becoming embedded in routine governance discourse. Rather than advancing definitive explanations, this project treats these patterns as an empirical starting point. By examining flexible employment as a discursive and governance category, the paper aims to contribute to ongoing conversations in the sociology of work and labor markets about informality, risk, and the organization of employment under conditions of sustained pressure. As an ongoing project, the analysis is intended to benefit from discussion and feedback, particularly with respect to refining its analytical focus and next steps.

Author

• Yifan Chen, Temple University