NTU Sociology Seminar Series | SMU-NTU Joint Seminar
Date: 8 November 2024
Time: 2:00 – 5:30 pm (seminar time: 2:00 to 4:00; followed by tea and refreshments after the talk)
Location: NTU (in-person only)
Join us for the upcoming NTU Sociology Seminar Series featuring two compelling talks in collaboration with Singapore Management University. This seminar explores the complexities of labor in Singapore’s global cityscape, focusing on the evolving definitions of skill and their implications for both domestic and creative migrant workers.
1. Dilemmas of Domestic Labor in the Global City: Learning to be a “Good Employer”
Speaker: Assistant Professor Yasmin Y. Ortiga, Singapore Management University
This talk delves into the challenges employers face in Singapore when managing domestic workers, where the notion of a "good employer" becomes a learned skill. Professor Ortiga's research reveals how employers adapt workplace management tactics in the household setting, using the temporary status of domestic workers to sidestep interpersonal conflicts. This insight offers a nuanced view of the power dynamics and asymmetrical relationships underpinning daily life in global cities.
About the Speaker:
Professor Ortiga studies how perceptions of "skill" influence migration patterns and institutional structures in both sending and receiving countries.
2. Precarious while Skilled: Examining Highly-Trained Migrant Creative Workers in Singapore
Speaker: Associate Professor Ye Junjia, Nanyang Technological University
This presentation investigates the impact of shifting skill definitions on highly trained migrant creative workers in Singapore. Through interviews with migrant animators, illustrators, and educators, Professor Ye uncovers how "skill" serves to justify job insecurity, transforming skill into a mechanism for sustaining precarious conditions within Singapore’s migration policies. This work sheds light on how neoliberal frameworks perpetuate uncertainty among skilled migrant workers.
About the Speaker:
Professor Ye’s research intersects migration studies, cultural diversity, and urban development in Southeast Asia, focusing on precarious creative labor and skilled migration.