THESIS
2013
Abstract
This dissertation focuses on the collective actions of “migrant workers” who are the
major force of the new Chinese working class that helps reposition China as a
“world’s workshop”. The new working class of China actively strives to alter their
fate through labor struggles. In the past ten years, there have been abundant studies
documenting their resistance and protest against the capitalist exploitation,
particularly in the form of industrial strikes. Such collective actions have often been
regarded as “unorganized and spontaneous”, and “with only legal consciousness but
no class consciousness”. However, through close examination of several factory
strikes in the jewelry and watch sector of the Pearl River Delta, it is found that such
description is not entirely accurate. Thi...[
Read more ]
This dissertation focuses on the collective actions of “migrant workers” who are the
major force of the new Chinese working class that helps reposition China as a
“world’s workshop”. The new working class of China actively strives to alter their
fate through labor struggles. In the past ten years, there have been abundant studies
documenting their resistance and protest against the capitalist exploitation,
particularly in the form of industrial strikes. Such collective actions have often been
regarded as “unorganized and spontaneous”, and “with only legal consciousness but
no class consciousness”. However, through close examination of several factory
strikes in the jewelry and watch sector of the Pearl River Delta, it is found that such
description is not entirely accurate. This study reveals that the key factor determining
the occurrence and development of any strikes rests upon the “worker activists” who
facilitate the strikes. Their experience and vision has helped this new working class
conquer a new ground in terms of its organizing capacity and action deployment.
This dissertation examines and re-assesses the transformation of the working class
action in China under the current political and economic regimes. It contributes to
the labor movement literature on how strikes emerge and transform in an
authoritarian state by enhancing our understanding on the informal agency power of
strike organizers in labor activism. The dissertation also points out the importance of
leadership in the emerging worker movement in China.
Post a Comment