Chinese workers’ online videos. A new medium for expressing subjectivities – Gilles Guiheux

This article is based on a collection of 500 videos posted online by one garment worker over a period of two years, between 2019 and 2021. The variety of issues covered and the details provided by the author on each topic lead us to argue that they can be used as empirical data to produce knowledge about Chinese workers in general. Although bound by certain commercial and political requirements, these videos provide rich material of documentary value. Our second argument is that producing videos empowers this worker because this requires him to distance himself from reality. Putting his life into images forces him to distance himself from life in the workshops, if only for the time it takes to film, produce the images and provide a commentary. Being both a worker and a documentarian enables the filmmaker to distinguish himself and transform his social identity.