Labor and Employment in Waste Collection and Recycling in Southeast Asian Countries (The Cases of Vietnam and Cambodia)

Abstract

The article analyzes materials on the nature of labor in the context of informal waste utilization in the two neighboring countries of Southeast Asia — Cambodia and Vietnam. Based on a qualitative analysis of primary and secondary sources, it is shown 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 permanently engaged in temporary work in the shadow sector of the labor market. In the studied countries, this type of employment has gender, age, ethnic, territorial specificities and often stems from a conscious choice of many adult participants in favour of a degree of independence from the employer and a certain freedom in organizing their work and private life. The voluntary marginalization of some garbage collectors can be compared with the life strategies of Zomia inhabitants: they use every means of getting economic and social autonomy — creating business relationships and self-organized communities outside the formal economy whilst also adapting to changes quite easily. Despite the lack of social guarantees and stigmatization, persistence and entrepreneurial spirit enable some of them to get closer to the middle class in terms of income through autonomous business projects. While informal employment in the waste management sector of Southeast Asian countries occurs mainly in cities, it also deeply affects village life. Involvement in the “waste business” has increased the mobility of many rural residents and their connection to cities. Besides that, the case of Vietnam demonstrates the emergence of new “craft villages” which are specialized on collecting and recycling certain types of waste.