Gangs and the Gig Economy: Triads, Precarity and Illicit Work in Hong Kong

Alistair Fraser and Karen Joe-Laidler

The British Journal of Criminology, 2024, vol. 64, issue 1, 139-156

Abstract: Paid employment in the criminal economy is, in many ways, the essence of precarious labour yet to date criminological work on the so-called ‘gig economy’ is scarce. Here we apply emergent sociological literature on ‘post-Fordist’ working cultures to precarious youth employment in Hong Kong, arguing: (1) recent reorganizations of labour markets towards flexible entrepreneurship are mirrored in the illicit economy; (2) a shift in structural features of triad gangs has led to a parallel form of ‘network sociality’; and (3) triad-affiliated youth remained rooted in place-based ‘communities of practice’ that form a point of difference from existing theory. In concluding, we reflect on the implications of these arguments for the study of illicit economies, triads and post-Fordist working cultures.

Keywords: youth; triads; precarity; gangs; Hong Kong; illicit economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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