Research topics include: Social stratification in China; rural Chinese social, political and economic change; workers and factory life; Chinese nationalism. Address: Australia
Both Vietnam and China have experienced rural economic reforms that in many respects are parallel... more Both Vietnam and China have experienced rural economic reforms that in many respects are parallel; but the socioeconomic consequences have been noticeably different. This paper seeks to show how differences between China and Vietnam in the interplay of rural industrialization, governmental policies and community processes have led to greater inter-and intra-community differentiation in China and the faster emergence there of a composite moneyed rural elite of officials and entrepreneurs. In making such a comparison, a distinction regarding Vietnam needs to be noted between the northern and southern halves of the country. 1 In the south, the process of agricultural collectivization was never completed: 2 by 1985, the 1 For statistical purposes, Vietnam is usually divided into seven socioeconomic regions. The north is divided into the Red River delta and "the rest" (the uplands); the centre into the central highlands, the south-central coast, and the northern panhandle (which was a part of North Vietnam until 1976); and the south into the Mekong delta and the southeast (including Ho Chi Minh City). In this paper we are focusing on the northern half that includes the Red River delta, the northern highlands, and the northern panhandle of central Vietnam-the regions that comprised the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, or
Through on-site interviewing, a comparative study has been carried out about migrant factory work... more Through on-site interviewing, a comparative study has been carried out about migrant factory workers in industrialised parts of China's Guangdong province and in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City. Even though China and Vietnam possess similar legacies of socialist transformation and have household registration regulations that restrict rural migrants' access to urban social services and impede their settlement in cities, there exist marked differences in Guangdong and Ho Chi Minh City in migration patterns, factory work conditions and migrant worker family livelihoods. In particular, migrant families in Ho Chi Minh City largely stay intact and tend to settle there permanently, while married migrant workers in Guangdong normally need to split up their families and remain trapped in circular rural-urban migration. As shall be seen, the national and local governments play important roles in determining the inclusion or exclusion of migrants from urban life, the wages they are paid and their standard of living and, most important of all, their children's access to education. Each of the two countries' differences in implementing policies is examined and comparatively analysed.
Close to a decade after the collapse of the Communist states in Eastern Europe and almost as many... more Close to a decade after the collapse of the Communist states in Eastern Europe and almost as many years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Communist parties in China and Vietnam are not only surviving; they are firmly in the saddle and can look with some ...
To be successfully competitive, state enterprises in China have recast themselves in the image of... more To be successfully competitive, state enterprises in China have recast themselves in the image of capitalist companies. The term "capitalist company" begs an important question, however, given that not all forms of capitalism are alike. Japanese and American-style firms, for example, take quite different approaches to many aspects of capitalist management. Our research at one state enterprise, a prosperous distillery, reveals that from the 1980s into the 2000s it instituted practices similar in many respects to the Japanese model. The distillery's capacity to do so has depended upon its profitability. A substantial number of other state-sector manufacturing enterprises similarly have been profitable during recent decades. Much has been written about the admittedly very large number of state enterprises that could not adjust successfully to the introduction of a market economy, teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, and in the 1990s dismissed very large numbers of employees. 1 Some other state enterprises, such as in the textile and footwear industries, sought to adjust by driving their long-term workforce to labor for depressed wages under !
8. These Guangzhou regulations are described in China Backgrourld, No. 17/68. 9. As an example, a... more 8. These Guangzhou regulations are described in China Backgrourld, No. 17/68. 9. As an example, a bad-class interviewee was told in 1965 that if she settled in a village she would be permitted to re-register from there for the next year's university entrance exams. lo. Yangeheng Wanbao, Guangzhou (19 September 1962); Nanfang Ribao (Southern Daily), Guangzhou, 23 April 1963. 11. Guangzhou Radio, November 19 1964; in News from the Chinese Provincial Radio Stations FJ.K. Government). They were accompanied by 10,000 of Guangzhou's " social youths," i.e. youths who were long-time unemployed. 12. Nanfang Ribao, 5 January 1966, p. 3. 13. The time tlley were supposed to spend in the countryside varied from two to four years. For those willing to go to hardship areas, say to help wipe out blood flukes, a shorter two-year " contract " was drawn up. 14. For the different perspectives adopted by the young people who were 15. On this debate up to the present day, see Jonathan Unger: " The C:hinese
The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, Jul 1, 1990
... Page 9. VOICES FROM THE PROTEST MOVEMENT 267 ... The diffuse nature of the students&a... more ... Page 9. VOICES FROM THE PROTEST MOVEMENT 267 ... The diffuse nature of the students' demands could be seen in an issue raised by Wang on behalf of his university. The year before, the students at his university had staged a protest over a ...
After the failure of the Great Leap Forward, China's leaders realized the peasants h... more After the failure of the Great Leap Forward, China's leaders realized the peasants had to be given a material stake in the productivity of the collective sector. Accordingly, in 1961-62, relatively small production cooperatives were established, composed of some ten to fifty neighbor- ...
A very large number of Chinese workers are caught today in circumstances similar to those faced b... more A very large number of Chinese workers are caught today in circumstances similar to those faced by the workers in rust belt cities interviewed by Ching Kwan Lee for chapter 7 in this volume. Such workers have grievances about unemployment, job insecurity, and onerous working conditions. I But not all of China's workers face similar difficulties today. During the past quarter century, as the economic reforms have unfolded, different parts of China's workforce have encountered very different fates
China today is the source of the great majority of the merchandise Walmart sells. China has also ... more China today is the source of the great majority of the merchandise Walmart sells. China has also emerged as one of Walmart's largest and fastest growing retail markets, with close to two hundred giant Walmart stores spread across China's provinces. What happens when the world's largest corporation encounters the world's biggest country? There are two areas of special interest-the impact of the Walmart supply chain, including the impact on the Chinese workers who manufacture Walmart products; and separately, Walmart's retail business and its brand of management practices when imported across cultures into the Walmart supercenters inside China. In both respects, has Walmart succeeded in a Walmartization of China
The first two editions of "Chen Village" presented an enthralling account of a Chinese ... more The first two editions of "Chen Village" presented an enthralling account of a Chinese village in the throes of Maoist revolution followed by dramatic changes in village life and local politics during the Deng Xiaoping period. Now, more than a decade and a half later, the authors have returned to "Chen Village", and in three new chapters they explore astonishing developments. The once-backwater village is today a center of China's export industry, where more than 50,000 workers labor in modern factories, ruled by the village government. This new edition of "Chen Village" illuminates, in microcosm, the recent history of rural China up to the present time.
Dictatorial China contains vivid examples of deliberative democracy on issues vital to local part... more Dictatorial China contains vivid examples of deliberative democracy on issues vital to local participants. In our case studies, collective decisions were arrived at based on modern Chinese egalitarian beliefs that may not apply to other countries. One is a 'moral economy' element rooted in aspects of China's prior socialist era. But our case studies also contain three elements that are relevant to programs of deliberative, participatory decision-making elsewhere in the world. First, the Chinese examples have all occurred within longstanding communities. Second, the members of these communities have faced concrete issues of a type that they felt they had the knowledge to resolve. And third, all of these communities had access to institutional frameworks established from above that the local populace could utilize as deliberative forums.
Today about 90 million urban Chinese factory workers are migrant workers from the countryside, co... more Today about 90 million urban Chinese factory workers are migrant workers from the countryside, comprising the largest and most rapidly expanded industrial working class in history. Before the mid-2000s, these workers from the countryside were employed only temporarily in factories, and almost all were young, very poorly paid and exploited. But as labor shortages have developed and as restrictions against residing in China's cities have relaxed, they are not as vulnerable as they were in previous decades. More of them are older, married, and have children, and many of them would like to settle on a permanent basis near their workplace with their families. Drawing on three decades of on-site interview research up through November 2018, the authors examine the changes that have occurred and the obstaclessuch as the remaining difficulty of obtaining an affordable urban education for their childrenthat still stand in the way of migrant Chinese families remaining intact and settling permanently in urban areas. As a means of conceptualizing the implications of the shifts in migrant workers' circumstances, especially for work relations and labor disputes, their evolving situation will be analyzed through the paradigm of Albert O. Hirschman's concept of Exit vs. Voice.
Both Vietnam and China have experienced rural economic reforms that in many respects are parallel... more Both Vietnam and China have experienced rural economic reforms that in many respects are parallel; but the socioeconomic consequences have been noticeably different. This paper seeks to show how differences between China and Vietnam in the interplay of rural industrialization, governmental policies and community processes have led to greater inter-and intra-community differentiation in China and the faster emergence there of a composite moneyed rural elite of officials and entrepreneurs. In making such a comparison, a distinction regarding Vietnam needs to be noted between the northern and southern halves of the country. 1 In the south, the process of agricultural collectivization was never completed: 2 by 1985, the 1 For statistical purposes, Vietnam is usually divided into seven socioeconomic regions. The north is divided into the Red River delta and "the rest" (the uplands); the centre into the central highlands, the south-central coast, and the northern panhandle (which was a part of North Vietnam until 1976); and the south into the Mekong delta and the southeast (including Ho Chi Minh City). In this paper we are focusing on the northern half that includes the Red River delta, the northern highlands, and the northern panhandle of central Vietnam-the regions that comprised the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, or
Through on-site interviewing, a comparative study has been carried out about migrant factory work... more Through on-site interviewing, a comparative study has been carried out about migrant factory workers in industrialised parts of China's Guangdong province and in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City. Even though China and Vietnam possess similar legacies of socialist transformation and have household registration regulations that restrict rural migrants' access to urban social services and impede their settlement in cities, there exist marked differences in Guangdong and Ho Chi Minh City in migration patterns, factory work conditions and migrant worker family livelihoods. In particular, migrant families in Ho Chi Minh City largely stay intact and tend to settle there permanently, while married migrant workers in Guangdong normally need to split up their families and remain trapped in circular rural-urban migration. As shall be seen, the national and local governments play important roles in determining the inclusion or exclusion of migrants from urban life, the wages they are paid and their standard of living and, most important of all, their children's access to education. Each of the two countries' differences in implementing policies is examined and comparatively analysed.
Close to a decade after the collapse of the Communist states in Eastern Europe and almost as many... more Close to a decade after the collapse of the Communist states in Eastern Europe and almost as many years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Communist parties in China and Vietnam are not only surviving; they are firmly in the saddle and can look with some ...
To be successfully competitive, state enterprises in China have recast themselves in the image of... more To be successfully competitive, state enterprises in China have recast themselves in the image of capitalist companies. The term "capitalist company" begs an important question, however, given that not all forms of capitalism are alike. Japanese and American-style firms, for example, take quite different approaches to many aspects of capitalist management. Our research at one state enterprise, a prosperous distillery, reveals that from the 1980s into the 2000s it instituted practices similar in many respects to the Japanese model. The distillery's capacity to do so has depended upon its profitability. A substantial number of other state-sector manufacturing enterprises similarly have been profitable during recent decades. Much has been written about the admittedly very large number of state enterprises that could not adjust successfully to the introduction of a market economy, teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, and in the 1990s dismissed very large numbers of employees. 1 Some other state enterprises, such as in the textile and footwear industries, sought to adjust by driving their long-term workforce to labor for depressed wages under !
8. These Guangzhou regulations are described in China Backgrourld, No. 17/68. 9. As an example, a... more 8. These Guangzhou regulations are described in China Backgrourld, No. 17/68. 9. As an example, a bad-class interviewee was told in 1965 that if she settled in a village she would be permitted to re-register from there for the next year's university entrance exams. lo. Yangeheng Wanbao, Guangzhou (19 September 1962); Nanfang Ribao (Southern Daily), Guangzhou, 23 April 1963. 11. Guangzhou Radio, November 19 1964; in News from the Chinese Provincial Radio Stations FJ.K. Government). They were accompanied by 10,000 of Guangzhou's " social youths," i.e. youths who were long-time unemployed. 12. Nanfang Ribao, 5 January 1966, p. 3. 13. The time tlley were supposed to spend in the countryside varied from two to four years. For those willing to go to hardship areas, say to help wipe out blood flukes, a shorter two-year " contract " was drawn up. 14. For the different perspectives adopted by the young people who were 15. On this debate up to the present day, see Jonathan Unger: " The C:hinese
The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, Jul 1, 1990
... Page 9. VOICES FROM THE PROTEST MOVEMENT 267 ... The diffuse nature of the students&a... more ... Page 9. VOICES FROM THE PROTEST MOVEMENT 267 ... The diffuse nature of the students' demands could be seen in an issue raised by Wang on behalf of his university. The year before, the students at his university had staged a protest over a ...
After the failure of the Great Leap Forward, China's leaders realized the peasants h... more After the failure of the Great Leap Forward, China's leaders realized the peasants had to be given a material stake in the productivity of the collective sector. Accordingly, in 1961-62, relatively small production cooperatives were established, composed of some ten to fifty neighbor- ...
A very large number of Chinese workers are caught today in circumstances similar to those faced b... more A very large number of Chinese workers are caught today in circumstances similar to those faced by the workers in rust belt cities interviewed by Ching Kwan Lee for chapter 7 in this volume. Such workers have grievances about unemployment, job insecurity, and onerous working conditions. I But not all of China's workers face similar difficulties today. During the past quarter century, as the economic reforms have unfolded, different parts of China's workforce have encountered very different fates
China today is the source of the great majority of the merchandise Walmart sells. China has also ... more China today is the source of the great majority of the merchandise Walmart sells. China has also emerged as one of Walmart's largest and fastest growing retail markets, with close to two hundred giant Walmart stores spread across China's provinces. What happens when the world's largest corporation encounters the world's biggest country? There are two areas of special interest-the impact of the Walmart supply chain, including the impact on the Chinese workers who manufacture Walmart products; and separately, Walmart's retail business and its brand of management practices when imported across cultures into the Walmart supercenters inside China. In both respects, has Walmart succeeded in a Walmartization of China
The first two editions of "Chen Village" presented an enthralling account of a Chinese ... more The first two editions of "Chen Village" presented an enthralling account of a Chinese village in the throes of Maoist revolution followed by dramatic changes in village life and local politics during the Deng Xiaoping period. Now, more than a decade and a half later, the authors have returned to "Chen Village", and in three new chapters they explore astonishing developments. The once-backwater village is today a center of China's export industry, where more than 50,000 workers labor in modern factories, ruled by the village government. This new edition of "Chen Village" illuminates, in microcosm, the recent history of rural China up to the present time.
Dictatorial China contains vivid examples of deliberative democracy on issues vital to local part... more Dictatorial China contains vivid examples of deliberative democracy on issues vital to local participants. In our case studies, collective decisions were arrived at based on modern Chinese egalitarian beliefs that may not apply to other countries. One is a 'moral economy' element rooted in aspects of China's prior socialist era. But our case studies also contain three elements that are relevant to programs of deliberative, participatory decision-making elsewhere in the world. First, the Chinese examples have all occurred within longstanding communities. Second, the members of these communities have faced concrete issues of a type that they felt they had the knowledge to resolve. And third, all of these communities had access to institutional frameworks established from above that the local populace could utilize as deliberative forums.
Today about 90 million urban Chinese factory workers are migrant workers from the countryside, co... more Today about 90 million urban Chinese factory workers are migrant workers from the countryside, comprising the largest and most rapidly expanded industrial working class in history. Before the mid-2000s, these workers from the countryside were employed only temporarily in factories, and almost all were young, very poorly paid and exploited. But as labor shortages have developed and as restrictions against residing in China's cities have relaxed, they are not as vulnerable as they were in previous decades. More of them are older, married, and have children, and many of them would like to settle on a permanent basis near their workplace with their families. Drawing on three decades of on-site interview research up through November 2018, the authors examine the changes that have occurred and the obstaclessuch as the remaining difficulty of obtaining an affordable urban education for their childrenthat still stand in the way of migrant Chinese families remaining intact and settling permanently in urban areas. As a means of conceptualizing the implications of the shifts in migrant workers' circumstances, especially for work relations and labor disputes, their evolving situation will be analyzed through the paradigm of Albert O. Hirschman's concept of Exit vs. Voice.
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