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The Resistance of Chinese Laid-off Workers in the Reform Period

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2002

Abstract

Since the 1990s, the Chinese government has carried out the reform of state-owned enterprises involving the retrenchment of millions of workers. One outcome of this reform has been labour unrest across the country. This article addresses the following questions about laid-off workers' collective resistance to the reform: why has collective action repeatedly occurred in a still authoritarian regime; and when are the workers more likely to take action? It argues that the workers' action is a result of two types of interaction, one between the workers and the government, and the other among workers themselves. Collective action is likely to occur when the workers expect to succeed. In addition, workers should be able to co-ordinate their actions, which is likely when there are mechanisms that make mobilization among them possible. The article concludes that worker resistance in the 1990s was not enough to stop the reform because several constraints made it difficult for them to take forceful action.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The China Quarterly, 2002

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Footnotes

I wish to thank Jean Oi and Kyaw Yin Hiaing for their very helpful suggestions on the revision of earlier drafts, and Susan Lopez-Nerney for her editorial assistance.