Migrant workers from India in Singapore construction industry

Abstract

This paper seeks to understand the everyday social experiences of Indian migrant construction workers in Singapore. Following Giddens’ theory of structuration, power is integrated within social practices that are structured by the social structure, constituted by laws, rules and resources. Thus, I seek to examine power and powerlessness on the micro and macro level through understanding micro-politics of power between local employers and migrant workers via social practices and relationship between local employers and migrant workers, and at the same time, taking into account macro-structural considerations of the state’s migrant labour policies. Alongside relevant concepts of power, the paper hopes to illuminate how power is operating through various mechanisms on the state and organizational level to subject migrant workers to marginalization in Singapore society.