Zed Asian Arguments #3 – Thailand’s Hidden Workforce

Just a quick note that the third book in my series for Zed Books, Asian Arguments, is now available for pre-order, Thailand’s Hidden Workforce. The book will be available in June. It’s a great subject that has been little reported to date – millions of Burmese women migrate into Thailand each year to form the basis of the Thai agricultural and manufacturing workforce. Un-documented and unregulated, this army of migrant workers constitutes the ultimate “disposable” labour force, enduring grueling working conditions and much aggression from the Thai police and immigration authorities. This insightful book ventures into a part of the global economy rarely witnessed by Western observers. Based on unique empirical research, it provides the reader with a gendered account of the role of women migrant workers in Thailand’s factories and interrogates the ways in which they strategize about their families and their futures.

Ruth Pearson is Professor for Development Studies at the University of Leeds. Kyoko Kusakabe is an Associate Professor of Gender and Development Studies, and Associate Dean of the School of Environment, Resources, Development (SERD), at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand.