Insurgency and institutionalization: the Polanyian countermovement and Chinese labor politics

Friedman, Eli

doi:10.1007/s11186-013-9192-1

Cited by 40 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 60 publications

(35 reference statements)

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“…As opposed to such instances of contentious politics, collective mobilization by unemployed workers, urban poor in the informal economy, and shopkeepers stems from the destruction of existing social compacts by the implementation of structural adjustment programs, austerity measures, and neoliberal reforms. Thus, we find workers losing employment and work security through the imposition of market‐oriented labor contract in China (Friedman ; Lee ), privatizations and drastic cutbacks of benefits in Latin America (Almeida ; Petras ; Vilas ), structural adjustment programs in Egypt (Paczynska ), and pro‐market reforms in Bangladesh (Nuruzzaman ). Furthermore, this process of unmaking is not limited to working classes.…”

Section: Polanyian Contention Against the Destructive Effects Of The mentioning

confidence: 98%

Globalization and Its Countermovement: Marxian Contention or Polanyian Resistance?

Gemici

Nair

2016

Sociology Compass

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This article surveys the scholarship on the countermovement against the diffusion of capitalism and market economy in the Global South. We identify two streams of analysis in the literature. On the one hand, scholars observe contentious politics instances where the spread of capitalist production relations enables the associational capacity and bargaining power of social classes. On the other hand, there are voluminous studies on contentious politics in the Global South where groups such as peasants, shopkeepers, and urban poor resist the intensification of the market economy. We use Beverly Silver's distinction between Marx‐type and Polanyi‐type protests, which focuses on how globalization makes and unmakes social groups, to unpack the heterogeneity of the impacts and experiences of globalization. We argue that although Silver's distinction is of great analytical value, there are strong warrants for separating the effects of the market economy from capitalism in studying contentious politics against globalization. Such an analytical strategy (i) expands the scope of the distinction between Marxian and Polanyian contention to social groups other than the working class and (ii) emphasizes that the roots of these struggles lie in the interconnected diffusion of capitalism and market economy.

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Section: Polanyian Contention Against the Destructive Effects Of The mentioning

confidence: 98%

Globalization and Its Countermovement: Marxian Contention or Polanyian Resistance?

Gemici

Nair

2016

Sociology Compass

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“…Other scholars provide mixed structure‐agent studies and hence more nuanced views (Chan ; Chan et al ; Friedman ; Friedman and Lee ; Gallagher ; Lee ; Lau ). Their prospects for the future of Chinese labor movement have likewise waxed and waned over the past two decades.…”

Section: Insurgency or Stagnancy: An Overview Of Chinese Labor Movementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do More Strikes Mean a Stronger Working Class's Agency: A Comparative Study in Post-Socialist China

Lin¹

2017

Journal of Labor and Society

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Workers’ agency is important to understand the Chinese working class's formation and gauge its capacity to forge transformative social and political movements. Recent labor study literature posits that class inequality and volatile capital movement leads to stronger labor resistance in post‐socialist China. Drawing on some of the theories on class consciousness and agency, this article re‐conceptualizes workers’ agency, which is broken down into behavioral and cognitive agencies. It examines Chinese workers’ cognitive agency in the megacities and lower‐tier cities via statistical survey data. This analysis of cognitive agency is new to the Chinese labor study. I argue that a relatively low class identification, poor understanding of democracy and politics, and weak sense of solidarity combine to reveal a new working class in post‐socialist China that, in general, shows both weak cognitive agency and growing conservativism. This distinction of workers’ behavioral and cognitive agency is vital as it may eventually challenge all labor interest parties to re‐think their current strategies of labor engagement and organization.

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“…In recent years interest‐based demands have become more common in China, a turning point marked symbolically by the 2010 strike wave sparked by workers at Nanhai Honda (Friedman, ; see also C.K.‐C. Chan, ).…”

Section: Death Of One Class — Birth Of Another?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent years interest-based demands have become more common in China, a turning point marked symbolically by the 2010 strike wave sparked by workers at Nanhai Honda (Friedman, 2013; see also C.K.-C. Chan, 2014). Two years later, a similar strike occurred at the joint-venture Youde Auto, an electrical parts supplier in Wuhan.…”

Section: Death Of One Class -Birth Of Another?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Alienated Politics: Labour Insurgency and the Paternalistic State in China

Friedman¹

2014

Development and Change

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Is there a labour movement in China? This contribution argues that China does not have a labour movement, but that contestation between workers, state and capital is best characterized as a form of 'alienated politics' . Widespread worker resistance is highly effective at the level of the firm be-cause of its ability to inflict losses on capital and disrupt public order. But authoritarian politics in China prevent workers from formulating political demands. Despite the spectacular repressive capacity of the state, the central government has in fact responded to highly localized resistance by passing generally pro-labour legislation over the past decade. The consequence of this is that worker unrest has produced important political shifts at the national level, but these have come about without workers' direct involvement in the process. In other words, workers are alienated from the political object that they themselves have produced. As a consequence, when the state intervenes in labour politics, it appears to be doing so of its own accord, i.e. paternalistically. This framework helps us to understand how worker unrest in China has become highly antagonistic towards employers and the local state, while maintaining the stability of the system as a whole. contestation between workers, state and capital is best characterized as a form of 'alienated politics'. Widespread worker resistance is highly effective at the level of the firm because of its ability to inflict losses on capital and disrupt public order. But authoritarian politics in China prevent workers from formulating political demands. Despite the spectacular repressive capacity of the state, the central government has in fact responded to highly localized resistance by passing generally pro-labour legislation over the past decade. The consequence of this is that worker unrest has produced important political shifts at the national level, but these have come about without workers' direct involvement in the process. In other words, workers are alienated from the political object that they themselves have produced. As a consequence, when the state intervenes in labour politics, it appears to be doing so of its own accord, i.e. paternalistically. This framework helps us to understand how worker unrest in China has become highly antagonistic towards employers and the local state, while maintaining the stability of the system as a whole.

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Insurgency and institutionalization: the Polanyian countermovement and Chinese labor politics

Cited by 40 publications

References 60 publications

Globalization and Its Countermovement: Marxian Contention or Polanyian Resistance?

Globalization and Its Countermovement: Marxian Contention or Polanyian Resistance?

Do More Strikes Mean a Stronger Working Class's Agency: A Comparative Study in Post-Socialist China

Alienated Politics: Labour Insurgency and the Paternalistic State in China

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