Introduction: The State of Labor in the People's Republic of China

In: Studies in comparative international development, Band 39, Heft 2, S. 3-10

Abstract

The effects of economic transition upon labor in the contemporary People's Republic of China are investigated. An overview of the Chinese state's replacement of its socialist economy with one that relied more upon markets is presented, emphasizing the growth of unemployment upon urban labor & the substitution of rural industrial workers for state & collective laborers. Four articles that contemplate the various changes experienced by the Chinese working classes are then introduced. It is asserted that these articles highlight three important developments within the Chinese state, eg, the Chinese Communist government has adopted a new ideological perspective that prioritizes individualism & market reform & has failed to establish institutions that would provide social protection for unemployed laborers. It is suggested that the Chinese state's inability to address several issues, eg, providing social protections for the unemployed & developing strategies for combating corruption & unemployment, will likely engender labor & political protests in the nation. The capacity of the Chinese Communist government to preserve its authoritarian political & social policies while maintaining its experiment with a market-based economy is also briefly pondered. J. W. Parker