Between precarity and protest
Cambodian migrants and the failures of Japan’s Titp
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15100676 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Phengse Chhour (0000-0003-3622-0147, Hosei University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-25 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Science Japan Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1369-1465 • E-ISSN: 1468-2680 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ssjj/jyaf025 |
| OpenAlex | W7082363443 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 22 |
The suicide of a Cambodian technical intern in 2022 highlighted the failure of Japan’s Technical Intern Training Programme. While existing research primarily examines Vietnamese technical interns, scholarship specifically focusing on Cambodian interns remains scarce. To address this gap, this article utilizes functionalist and historical–structural migration theories to analyse the interplay of agency and structural constraints in shaping the experiences of Cambodian technical interns in Japan. Employing ethnographic case studies conducted in Kanagawa and Gunma Prefectures, this research investigates the reasons behind Cambodian interns’ decisions to abandon their workplaces, transition into undocumented status, and engage in political protests. Drawing from detailed interviews with ten former interns, the study identifies critical factors driving their choices: misinformation received before departure, burdensome financial obligations, exploitative working conditions characterized by excessive working hours and minimal compensation, restricted mobility, the role of unlicensed brokers, labour market demand in illegal sectors, and the pursuit of false asylum claims. Notably, all interviewed interns demonstrated active political engagement, having participated in organized protests in Tokyo. By foregrounding Cambodian migrants’ perspectives, this research contributes novel insights into the complex intersection of labour migration, asylum seeking, and political activism within the context of Japan’s migrant intern policies
Agency (philosophy) · Context (archaeology) · Ethnography · Foregrounding · Misinformation · Nexus (standard) · Politics · Precarity · Scholarship · Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping · Geological and Geophysical Studies · Geological Modeling and Analysis
Theories of Political Protest and Social Movements
Ethnography in/of the World System
Data visualization of texts in the transitions of framing Indochinese refugees by Japanese television documentaries
Immigration Policy and Foreign Workers in Japan
Being there… and there… and there
Workers, Neighbours, or Something Else? Local Policies and Policy Narratives of Technical Intern Training Program Participants
An Immigration Policy by Any Other Name
Dam break in Japan’s immigration policy
Low-Skilled Migrant Labor Schemes in Japan’s Agriculture
What is new about Japan’s new migration policy? From recruitment of “nonlabor” workers to selection by neoliberal meritocracy
Migration and Law in J apan
Dualism in the Labor Market
From Foreign Trainees to Unauthorized Workers
A theory of migration
The Costs and Returns of Human Migration
The Triad of Transnationalism, Legal Recognition, and Local Community
Bogus Refugees? The Determinants of Asylum Migration to Western Europe
Informalization and Temporary Labor Migration
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |