Re-examining the ‘entrepreneurial self’ : (transformation of) worker subjectivity in China's internet industry

Abstract

Previous studies in diverse settings have argued that worker subjectivity is infiltrated by the neoliberal discourse of the ‘entrepreneurial self’. This article re-examines this conceptualisation by looking at worker subjectivity in China's internet sector. Interview data show that Chinese tech workers transition from embracing the entrepreneurial self to distancing themselves from it, prompted by a change in life stage. This shows how workers' (changing) subjectivity interacts with structural factors, including the organisation of labour in the internet industry (characterised by high employment flexibility, the overwork norm, and age discrimination), labour migration to developed first-tier cities, and the cultural expectation of settling down for marriage and child-rearing in one's late-20s to 30s. This article broadens the discussion of worker subjectivity by showing how worker subjectivities are shaped by dynamics both in the spheres of production and social reproduction, as well as the interactions among employment, migration, and life stage.