The workers' dilemma : collective action and factory workers in China
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Which factors explain the patterns of labor protests in contemporary China? I explore the empirical puzzle of why foreign-invested and large-scale factories in China -- that are more likely to abide by labor laws than their domestic private counterparts -- nonetheless experience higher incidence of workers' collective action. Scholars have suggested that Chinese workers rely on law to legitimize their claims during collective action. Yet my research demonstrates that a growing number of migrant workers in China make interest-based demands that go beyond the legal minimum defined by the state. I argue that the changes in the socioeconomic conditions during the 1990s have created the incentives for the regime to move away from overt labor repression and to adopt more lenient attitudes towards labor protests. As a result of the change in the regime's approach in managing labor, workers in China have perceived a wider opening for contention since the mid-2000s. Instead of relying solely on law, contemporary workers seek to publicize their cause to gain support from the public. At foreign-invested and large-scale enterprises, workers have a stronger perception that they can attract the public's attention due to the firms' higher visibility and newsworthiness. My findings suggest that relevant outside actors' interests in workers' activism, rather than workers' legal knowledge per se, help mitigate workers' collective action problems.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2015 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Rho, Sung Min |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Political Science. |
| Primary advisor | Oi, Jean C. (Jean Chun) |
| Thesis advisor | Oi, Jean C. (Jean Chun) |
| Thesis advisor | Blaydes, Lisa, 1975- |
| Thesis advisor | Magaloni, Beatriz |
| Thesis advisor | Tomz, Michael |
| Advisor | Blaydes, Lisa, 1975- |
| Advisor | Magaloni, Beatriz |
| Advisor | Tomz, Michael |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Sung Min Rho. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Political Science. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2015. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2015 by Sung Min Rho
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...