The Chinese Worker after Socialism

This fascinating study considers the fate of 35 million workers laid off from the state-owned sector in China.

William Hurst (Author)

9781107404625, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 July 2012

210 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.2 cm, 0.32 kg

'Hurst's book provides detailed and extensive information … a comprehensive summary …' Permanent Revolution

While millions in China have been advantaged by three decades of reform, impressive gains have also produced social dislocation. Groups that had been winners under socialism find themselves losers in the new order. Based on field research in nine cities across China, this fascinating study considers the fate of one such group - 35 million workers laid off from the state-owned sector. The book explains why these lay-offs occurred, how workers are coping with unemployment, what actions the state is taking to provide them with livelihoods and re-employment, and what happens when workers mobilize collectively to pursue redress of their substantial grievances. What happens to these people, the remnants of the socialist working class, will be critical in shaping post-socialist politics and society in China and beyond.

Introduction
1. Regional political economy and labor reform
2. The roots of unemployment and the political economy of lay-offs
3. Remaking China's urban welfare and labor market policies
4. Pathways to re-employment
5. Contention, protest, and social order
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Employment & unemployment [KCFM], Labour economics [KCF], Political ideologies [JPF], Politics & government [JP], Sociology [JHB]