Vanguard to Periphery: The CPC’s Changing Narrative on the Labour Question

Abstract

With the ideological undergirding of Marxism–Leninism, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has claimed representation of peasants and workers in its vanguard role in actualising the socialist revolution. However, as China has developed economically over the past four decades, there has been an erosion in the status of workers and peasants as legitimate stakeholders in governance and ruling practices. This article attempts to map the transition of how labour, once a critical component of CPC’s political–ideological invocation, has become peripheral as China transitioned to a market economy with an emphasis on economic rationale for growth and reforms. This article examines the changing contours of CPC’s discourse and practice over the past 100 years on the labour question, sandwiched as it is between the need for continued economic growth as a legitimating tool and the continued reiteration of being representative of the working class.

The Phenomenon of Labor Exploitation: a Systematic Literature Review

“…For instance, factory owners are frequently charged with taking advantage of the dire circumstances that their workers face, even though the latter accepts their terms of employment voluntarily. And finally, in India, relevant articles that have been published are written by (Krishnan, 2022) Regarding the philosophical underpinnings of the Chinese Communist Party, and Marxism-Leninism (CCP) asserts that peasants and workers should play a leading role in bringing about the socialist revolution. The standing of workers and peasants as legitimate participants in governance and governance practices, however, has decreased as China's economy has expanded over the past forty years.…”