The Challenge of Labour in China: Strikes and the Changing Labour Regime in Global Factories

ISBN-13: 9780415557030 / Angielski / Twarda / 2010 / 216 str.

Chris King-chi Chan

Opis

China's economic success has been founded partly on relatively cheap labour, especially in the export industries. In recent years, however, there has been growing concern about wages and labour standards in China. This book examines how wages are bargained, fought over and determined in China, by exploring how the pattern of labour conflict has changed over time since the 1970s. It focuses in particular on the city of Shenzhen where labour conflict and workers' protests have been especially prevalent. This book includes a detailed account of the transformation of labour relations and labour policy in China more broadly during 2004 to 2009, a period when there have been significant changes in the labour market, labour regulation and labour relations. The author argues that these recent developments have brought to the fore the class basis of workers' protest in China and have thoroughly undermined the post-Marxist analysis of identity politics. The book makes an invaluable contribution to studies on industry and labour, as well as Chinese studies.

Spis treści

1. Introduction: Globalisation and Chinese Migrant Workers  2. Labour Conflict in Shen Zhen: a Historical Review  3. Community and Shop Floor Culture: a Prelude to Workers' Protests  4. Strikes and Changing Power Relations in the Workplace  5. Workplace Conflict, Legal Institution, and Labour Regime  6. International Civil Society, Chinese Trade Unionism, and Workplace Representation  7. Conclusion: Workers' Struggle and the Changing Regime in China

O autorze

Chris King-Chi Chan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Social Science at the City University of Hong Kong, and is an active member of labour NGOs in Hong Kong and on mainland China. He gained his PhD at the University of Warwick, UK, and previously worked as a trade union organiser in Hong Kong.