Underground Employment: Analyzing the Job Quality of New York City Subway Dancers
基于34次深度访谈，从马克思主义和女性主义经济学视角分析纽约地铁舞者作为非正规自雇者的工作质量，揭示其自主性与风险并存的矛盾，并探讨警察将其犯罪化背后的种族与阶级不平等。
This paper analyzes the New York City subway phenomenon known as “showtime.” Using an individuals-in-relation framework and drawing on Marxist and feminist economic perspectives, it investigates the job quality of subway dancing as a type of informal self-employment. The data come from thirty-four in-depth interviews conducted in 2016. The paper contextualizes earnings, hours, and conditions of work by considering the social relations and power dynamics in which they are embedded. While dancers articulate advantages of this work, such as setting one’s own schedule and having a creative outlet, they also articulate disadvantages, most notably the risk of being arrested. While the dancers see performing on the subway as productively contributing to New York City, the police categorize this activity as a crime. Through this analysis, the paper provides insights into the broader context of work relations and inequality in New York City.HIGHLIGHTS Empowering aspects of subway dancing include not having a boss and ability to express creativity.Challenges include negative passengers and risk of injury or arrest.Subway dancing highlights lack of quality formal employment for marginalized populations in New York City.Criminalizing subway dancing is an example of criminalization of black male bodies in the US.