Labor and Class Identities in Hong Kong: Class Processes in a Neoliberal Global City (Series in Asian Labor and Welfare Policies)

Asia has been the new focus of global social sciences. One of the key features for the rise of Asia is the creation of the largest industrial workforce in human history. China, India, and many other newly industrialized countries in Asia have been transformed as "world factories" for global capitalism in the past four decades. This development involves both extensive and intensive migration of labor across Asia. Massive populations in the Asian countries that were formerly involved in traditional self-subsistence activities have become wage laborers. In China itself, more than 260 million rural-urban migrant laborers have been created in the past three decades. The production and reproduction of labor in Asia have therefore become the major research themes in a wide range of disciplines such as gender studies, development studies, policy studies, employment relations, human resource management, economic geography, business studies, legal studies, as well as sociology, politics, and anthropology. This book series is a response to the increasing interest among academics, policy makers, researchers, students, and development agencies for a comprehensive understanding of the labor and welfare problems in Asia. It aims to publish interdisciplinary and cutting-edge research on the questions of labor, migration, and social protections in the region. Based on numerous qualitative interviews, this cutting edge book investigates how Hong Kong's economic structure and neoliberal policies have contributed to class inequality in China's global city. Inspired by Bourdieu's approach to class, the author examines class stratification in education, works, and political attitudes and argues that the lack of explicit class identifications among the people does not imply irrelevance of class. Relying upon empirical field data to question the applicability of the reflexive modernization theory, the text debates whether individualization makes class a redundant concept in advanced capitalist societies. Cover -- Half-Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of Tables -- Acknowledgments -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Studying Class Processes in Hong Kong: Approach and Method -- 3 Childhood and Education -- 4 Work -- 5 Class, Politics, and Democratization -- 6 Class Identification -- 7 Hong Kong-China Integration, Neoliberalization, and the Young Lower Class in Hong Kong -- 8 Classed Experience in a Neoliberal Global City -- Appendix I: Interview Schedule -- Appendix II: Profiles of the 56 Interviewees -- Notes -- References -- Index Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction....Pages 1-17 Studying Class Processes in Hong Kong: Approach and Method....Pages 19-30 Childhood and Education....Pages 31-53 Work....Pages 55-88 Class, Politics, and Democratization....Pages 89-108 Class Identification....Pages 109-121 Hong Kong-China Integration, Neoliberalization, and the Young Lower Class in Hong Kong....Pages 123-139 Classed Experience in a Neoliberal Global City....Pages 141-155 Back Matter....Pages 157-202 This cutting edge volume investigates how Hong Kong's economic structure and neoliberal policies have contributed to class inequality in China's global city. Specific topics include educational stratification, attitudes towards works, political attitudes, and class identifications.