The Making of the Chinese Industrial Workplace: State, Revolution, and Labor Management (Cambridge Modern China Series)

State workers in China have until recently enjoyed the 'iron rice bowl' of comprehensive cradle-to-grave benefits and lifetime employment. This central institution in Chinese politics emerged over the course of various crises that swept through China's industrial sector prior to and after revolution in 1949. Frazier explores critical phases in the expansion of the Chinese state during the middle third of the twentieth century to reveal how different labour institutions reflected state power. While the 'iron rice bowl' is usually seen as an outgrowth of Communist labour policy, Frazier's account shows that is has longer historical roots. As a product of the Chinese state, the iron rice bowl's dismantling in the 1990's has raised sensitive issues about the way in which the contemporary Chinese state exerts control over urban industrial society. This book sheds light on state and society relations in China under the Nationalist and Communist regimes Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Title......Page 7 Copyright......Page 8 Contents......Page 9 List of Tables......Page 11 List of Acronyms......Page 13 Preface......Page 15 1 Introduction......Page 21 EXPLAINING FACTORY INSTITUTIONS IN CHINA......Page 26 POLITICAL REGIMES AND WORKPLACE REGIMES IN CHINA......Page 33 THE EMPIRICAL APPROACH......Page 38 2 Labor Management and Its Opponents, 1927–1937......Page 43 THE MODERNIZATION OF LABOR MANAGEMENT......Page 46 Shipbuilding and Textiles......Page 48 Shanghai and Guangzhou......Page 49 Guilds and Apprentices......Page 51 Gangs and Contractors......Page 53 NATIONALIST LABOR POLICY AND ENTERPRISE CASES......Page 56 The Jiangnan Shipyard......Page 58 The Shenxin Corporation......Page 66 Provincial Government and Industrial Development in Guangzhou......Page 70 Envisioning an Industrial Future......Page 77 3 Welfare and Wages in Wartime......Page 80 WARTIME LABOR POLICY......Page 82 ENTERPRISE WELFARE PROVISION IN POSTWAR CHINA......Page 86 Guangdong Textile Mill......Page 89 Huangpu Naval Shipyard......Page 94 Jiangnan Shipyard......Page 96 Private Enterprises in Shanghai......Page 102 Labor Politics in Shanghai’s Cotton Mills......Page 105 4 Takeover Policies and Labor Politics, 1949–1952......Page 112 CITY AND FACTORY TAKEOVERS......Page 113 The Takeover of Shanghai......Page 117 The Takeover of Guangzhou......Page 126 THE FAILURE OF LABOR-MANAGEMENT COOPERATION......Page 130 FACTORY CAMPAIGNS, 1951–1952......Page 134 The Campaigns in Shanghai......Page 137 The Campaigns in Guangzhou......Page 141 Unintended Consequences of the Campaigns......Page 145 5 Adjusting to the Command Economy......Page 152 ENTERPRISE WELFARE......Page 158 WAGES......Page 163 WAGE ADJUSTMENTS......Page 168 INCENTIVE BONUSES......Page 171 LABOR ALLOCATION......Page 175 PARTY-GOVERNMENT RIVALRY......Page 179 LABOR COMPETITIONS......Page 181 6 Enterprise Perspectives on the Command Economy......Page 184 JIANGNAN SHIPYARD......Page 185 Wages......Page 187 Production Bonuses......Page 190 Enterprise Welfare......Page 191 Labor Allocation......Page 192 Campaigns......Page 193 SHENXIN NUMBER SIX MILL......Page 195 Campaigns......Page 197 Wages......Page 198 Enterprise Welfare......Page 201 HUANGPU NAVAL SHIPYARD......Page 203 Wages......Page 204 Enterprise Welfare......Page 206 Campaigns......Page 207 GUANGDONG TEXTILE MILL......Page 209 Wages......Page 210 Labor Allocation......Page 211 Enterprise Welfare......Page 212 Campaigns and Labor Competitions......Page 213 COMMAND ECONOMICS, LOCAL CONTROLS......Page 214 7 The Rise of “Party Committee Factories”......Page 216 STRIKE WAVES, RECTIFICATION, AND DECENTRALIZATION......Page 217 Rectification......Page 219 Decentralization......Page 221 Labor Allocation......Page 225 Enterprise Welfare......Page 230 Wages and Bonuses......Page 232 RE-(DE)CENTRALIZATION AFTER THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD......Page 235 Labor Allocation......Page 237 Enterprise Welfare......Page 240 Wages and Bonuses......Page 243 Intensifying Corruption......Page 245 The Cultural Revolution and Decentralization......Page 250 8 Conclusion......Page 254 CULTURE AND INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE......Page 261 CRISES AND FACTORY INSTITUTIONS......Page 263 BUILDING WORKPLACE INSTITUTIONS: TAIWAN IN THE 1950S......Page 266 EPILOGUE: OLD FACTORIES, NEW INSTITUTIONS......Page 270 TAIPEI......Page 279 Bibliography......Page 280 Index......Page 293 For Decades One Of The Most Important Institutions In Chinese Politics And Society Has Been The Work Unit (danwei): The Organization Of China's Urban State Sector Workforce Into Tightly Enclosed Communities Offering Lifetime Employment And Extensive Welfare Benefits. The Work Unit Has Also Served The Chinese State As A Means Of Direct And Indirect Control Over China's Historically Contentious Working Class. While The Work Unit Is Often Explained As Part And Parcel Of Chinese Communism Or Of Chinese Culture, In This Book Frazier Shows How Particular Elements Of The Work Unit Structure Emerged During Different Crises That Swept Through China's Industrial Sector. China's Industrial Workplace Was Made, In Effect, Through A Process Of Conflict And Coalitions Among Workers, Managers, And State Officials Over Several Critical Decades That Bracketed The Communist Regime's Founding In 1949. The Author Traces Important Continuities And Changes In State And Society Relations Across The Nationalist And Communist Regimes During The Pivotal Decades Of The Mid-twentieth Century.--book Jacket. 1. Introduction 2. Labor Management And Its Opponents, 1927-1937 3. Welfare And Wages In Wartime 4. Takeover Policies And Labor Politics, 1949-1952 5. Adjusting To The Command Economy 6. Enterprise Perspectives On The Command Economy 7. The Rise Of 'party Committee Factories' 8. Conclusion. Mark W. Frazier. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 260-271) And Index. State workers in China have until recently enjoyed the 'iron rice bowl' of comprehensive cradle-to-grave benefits and lifetime employment. This central institution in Chinese politics emerged over the course of various crises that swept through China's industrial sector prior to and after revolution in 1949. Frazier explores critical phases in the expansion of the Chinese state during the middle third of the twentieth century to reveal how different labor institutions reflected state power. While the 'iron rice bowl' is usually seen as an outgrowth of Communist labor policy, Frazier's account shows that is has longer historical roots. As a product of the Chinese state, the iron rice bowl's dismantling in the 1990s has raised sensitive issues about the way in which the contemporary Chinese state exerts control over urban industrial society. This book sheds new light on state and society relations in China under the Nationalist and Communist regimes What Lenin said of Russian workers highlights an important but under-studied problem of many states that seek to jump-start industrialization through the rapid mobilization of capital and labor: building new factories also requires new norms and rules governing the employment relationship of the people who are to work in factories. This book traces the origins of the 'iron rice bowl' of comprehensive cradle-to-grave benefits and lifetime employment in Chinese factories. It suggests that, in some ways, the Chinese revolution in 1949 was not as revolutionary as most have thought