Contribution short abstract:

In China, migrant factory workers excluded from formal social benefits join membership-based associations—neither unions nor charities—seeking side hustles and community support. These market-driven networks foster solidarity while risking the commodification of collective care.

Contribution long abstract:

Migrant factory workers in contemporary China often find themselves navigating limited social welfare provisions and the privatization of social responsibilities. In response, many turn to membership-based associations that are neither formal unions nor purely charitable organizations, but market actors stressing side hustles, alternative incomes, and entrepreneurial ventures. These associations help workers forge meaningful connections and build informal support systems in the face of precarious factory work and exclusion from state-run benefits—particularly pronounced for those on flexible contracts.

By pooling resources, arranging group discounts, and offering training for small-scale business opportunities, these associations fulfill needs that the formal social safety net neglects. They also cultivate an affective engagement grounded in shared hardships, as members unite around their aspirations for improved livelihoods. Yet, even as they enable new forms of solidarity, such associations may appropriate workers’ collective struggles for commercial gain or reinforce hierarchies by favoring those better positioned to invest in side enterprises.

Nevertheless, the sense of community emerging from these market-driven strategies is not inconsequential. Mutual care and peer support become central to workers’ efforts to secure healthcare, housing, and financial security. Such networks can alleviate some of the burdens of alienating factory conditions and social exclusion, while simultaneously exposing the fragility of relying on market-based solutions. Ultimately, this case illustrates how, in China’s industrial zones, migrant workers creatively assemble multiple strategies to cope with systemic neglect—revealing the paradoxical interplay between community formation and the commodification of collective care.