This book comprehensively investigates the position of China’s working class between the 1980s and 2010s and considers the consequences of economic reforms in historical perspective. It argues the case that, far from the illusion during the Maoist period that a new society had been established where the working classes held greater political and economic autonomy, economic reforms in the post-Mao era have led to the return of traditional Marxist proletariats in China. The book demonstrates how the reforms of Deng Xiaoping have led to increased economic efficiency at the expense of economic equality through an extensive case study of an SOE (state-owned enterprise) in Sichuan Province as well as wider discussions of the emergence of state capitalism on both a micro and macroeconomic level. The book also discusses workers’ protests during these periods of economic reform to reflect the reformation of class consciousness in post-Mao China, drawing on Marx’s concept of a transition from a ‘class-in-itself' to a ‘class-for-itself’. It will be valuable reading for students and scholars of Chinese economic and social history, as well as political economy, sociology, and politics.
Author(s): Shan Shanne Huang
Series: Palgrave Studies in Economic History
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 283
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
About the Author
Abbreviations
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 Introduction
1.1 Research Background
Chinese State-Owned Enterprises
1.2 The Working Class in China
1.3 Research Question
References
2 Theories and Methodology Applied
2.1 Theories
Macro Guidance: Marx’s Debate on Class and Class Struggle
Micro Approaches to Explore
Weber’s Understanding of Sociology
Bourdieu’s Material and Symbolic Capital
Foucault’s Power Concept
Olson’s Interest Group
Sen’s Entitlement Approach
2.2 Methodology
Qualitative Research Methods—Case Study, Oral History and More
Data Collection Methods
Secondary Data Collection
Primary Data Collection
Data Analysis Methods and Application of NVivo
Overcoming Challenges
Dialect and Terms
Research Ethics and Safety
Anonymisation
References
3 The Case of E Group Corporation—an SOE in Sichuan, Post-1949
3.1 Sichuan: Artificial Establishment of SOEs in a Farming Province
3.2 E Group Company: Privileged SOE–cum–Financial Burden
D City
E Group Company’s History
E Group Company: Economic Booster-Cum-Financial Burden
3.3 E Group Company Workers
3.4 Summary on E Group Company
References
4 Workers’ Returning to a Proletariat Position in Post-1978
4.1 Research into SOEs Before Economic Reforms
4.2 Iron Rice Bowl and Workers’ Privilege Under the Work Unit System
Privileged Work Unit and EGC Workers’ Advantages
Benefits for Workers’ Families
4.3 Research into SOEs and Economic Reforms
4.4 Workers’ Status in E Group Company After SOE Reforms
Loss of SOE Advantages and the Failure of Socialist Enterprises
Loss of SOE Workers’ Superiority
Status of Employed Workers
Status of Workers in Early Retirement or Internal Retirement
4.5 Changes in the Composition of the Working Class in EGC
Workers: Returning to the Traditional Working Class
SOE Cadres
Technicians
References
5 “Nostalgia” and “Protests”: Class Consciousness and Class-For-Itself
5.1 Nostalgia: The Socio-Political Condition of Working-Class Protest
5.2 Explicit Protest: Labour Activism in EGC
Interest Group and Collective Action
The Demand for Protest: Economic Satisfaction and Political Slogan
The Characteristics of the Chinese Workers’ Activism, Class Consciousness and the Transformation of Class in the Light of EGC Workers’ Restricted Explicit Protest
5.3 Implicit Protests and Practices of “Relationship”
Implicit Protests in Daily Jobs
The Utilisation and Possession of State-Owned Assets
Rejecting Leadership Requests
Part-Time Jobs
Using Relationships to Reduce Workload
Practices of Relationship in Employment
Obtaining Better Employment
Obtaining Easy Job Positions
Promotion as a Means of Protest and Practices of Relationship
Relationship with Leaders
Joining a Party to Build New Relationships
References
6 The Reconstruction of Classes and a Class Society in China
6.1 Relative Deprivation, Multiple Exploitation, and Class Consciousness
6.2 Analysis on Transformation of China’s Social Structure
6.3 Classes and the Perception of a Class Society
6.4 State Capitalism and the Working Class
References
7 Final Conclusions
References
Appendix A: The Summary of the Basic Information of Interviewees
Appendix B: List of Internal Documents (Chronological Order)
Appendix C: Interview Question Guide
Appendix D: Memos in NVivo
Appendix E: Annotations in NVivo
Appendix F: Photos Collected from Fieldwork Research
Index
