China at Work: A Labour Process Perspective on the Transformation of Work and Employment in China(Critical Perspectives on Work and Employment)

Bringing together leading authorities and emerging young researchers, this edited textbook is aimed at students and scholars interested in the Chinese workplace and the impact that China is having on work internationally. Part of the Critical Perspectives on Work and Employment series, it is the first textbook to use labour process analysis to examine work and employment in China. This book discusses key features and contrasts in employment and labour conditions within China, as well as reviewing the impact of Chinese firms operating outside of China. As the first collection to explicitly use labour process theory as an orienting perspective, this book is ideal for students and scholars interested in what is becoming the most significant country in the global economy.

Table of Contents:
Preface. Labour in China; Pun Ngai Introduction 1. In Search of the Labour Process Perspective in China; Chris Smith and Mingwei Liu PARTI: WORKAND EMPLOYMENT BY SECTOR AND FIRM 2. Control and Consent in the Process of Employee Participation in a Chinese State-owned Enterprise — the Case of BZ Iron and Steel Company; Mengjie Lu 3. Workers under Disorganized Despotism: A Case from State-Owned Shipbuilding Industry; Lefeng Lin 4. The Making of Dualistic Labour Regime: Changing Labour Process and Power Relations in a Chinese State-Owned-Enterprise under Globalization; Wenjuan Jia 5. Prolonged Selection or Extended Flexibility? A case study of Japanese Subsidiaries in China; Yu Zheng 6. The Self-organization of Women Workers in the Informal Sector of the Garment Industry: a Study of Female-led Cooperative Production Teams in the Yangtze River Delta Region of China; Lulu Fan 7. Contingent Work in the Chinese Call Centre Sector; Xiangmin Liu and Can Ouyang 8. Power, Space, and Subjectivity in a Transnational Garment Factory in China; Jaesok Kim PARTII: LABOUR MARKET INSTITUTIONS: UNIONS and COLLECTIVE BARGAININ 9. Employer Responses to Labor Shortage in China: the Case of the Knitwear Industry; Hao Zhang 10. Collective Consultation in China: A Comparative Study of Two Auto Companies; Fuxi Wangand Mingwei Liu 11. Direct Elections of Workplace Trade Unions in China: Implications for the changing labour regime; Chris Chan and Elaine Hui PARTIII: STRIKES AND LABOUR ACTIVISM 12. A Pathway to a Vital Labour Movement in China? A Case Study of a Union-Led Protest against Walmart; Chunyun Li and Mingwei Liu 13. Strikes and Workplace Collective Bargaining in the Auto Parts Industry in Guangzhou; Yunxue Deng PART IV: WORKAND EMPLOYMENT IN THE OVERSEAS CHINESE FIRM 14. Foxconn beyond China: Capital-labour Relations as Co-determinants of Internationalization; Rutvica Andrijasevicand Sacchetto Devi 15. The Management of Labour in Chinese MNCs Operating Outside of China: a Critical Review; Chris Smith and Yu Zheng.

About the Author :
Mingwei Liu is Associate Professor of Labour Studies and Employment Relations, School of Management and Labour Relations, Rutgers University, USA. Chris Smith is Professor of Organisation Studies and Comparative Management, School of Management, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Mingwei Liu is Associate Professor of Labour Studies and Employment Relations, School of Management and Labour Relations, Rutgers University, USA. Chris Smith is Professor of Organisation Studies and Comparative Management, School of Management, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.

Review :
This volume is, to my mind, a must-read for Chinese labor scholars and others interested in labor process theory, labor politics, and labor relations more generally. I have found these case studies very useful in my courses on East Asian development and social change.