From Iron Rice Bowl to Informalization
Markets, Workers, and the State in a Changing China
Published on 15. August 2011
Book
Hardback
248 pages
978-0-8014-5024-2 (ISBN)
Description
In the thirty years since the opening of China's economy, China's economic growth has been nothing short of phenomenal. At the same time, however, its employment relations system has undergone a gradual but fundamental transformation from stable and permanent employment with good benefits (often called the iron rice bowl), to a system characterized by highly precarious employment with no benefits for about 40 percent of the population. Similar transitions have occurred in other countries, such as Korea, although perhaps not at such a rapid pace as in China. This shift echoes the move from "breadwinning" careers to contingent employment in the postindustrial United States.
In From Iron Rice Bowl to Informalization, an interdisciplinary group of authors examines the nature, causes, and consequences of informal employment in China at a time of major changes in Chinese society. This book provides a guide to the evolving dynamics among workers, unions, NGOs, employers, and the state as they deal with the new landscape of insecure employment.
In From Iron Rice Bowl to Informalization, an interdisciplinary group of authors examines the nature, causes, and consequences of informal employment in China at a time of major changes in Chinese society. This book provides a guide to the evolving dynamics among workers, unions, NGOs, employers, and the state as they deal with the new landscape of insecure employment.
Reviews / Votes
Kuruvilla et al. chart the journey from employment security-known as the 'iron rice bowl' in colloquial Chinese-to informalization in 10 chapters. This sad tale is standard fare in the global labour studies literature, but the underlying arguments in this book are more nuanced and at times controversial.... This book... [is a] valuable addition to the Chinese labour relations canon. Kuruvilla et. al. point the way to further research opportunities....- Tim Pringle (British Journal of Industrial Relations)
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Cornell University Press
Product notice
Paper over boards
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
907 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8014-5024-2 (9780801450242)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Sarosh Kuruvilla | Ching Kwan Lee | Mary E. Gallagher
From Iron Rice Bowl to Informalization
Markets, Workers, and the State in a Changing China
E-Book
08/2011
1st Edition
ILR Press
€162.99
Available for download
Persons
Sarosh Kuruvilla is Professor of Comparative Industrial Relations, Asian Studies, and Public Affairs at Cornell University, where he serves as chair of ILR International Programs. Ching Kwan Lee is Professor of Sociology at UCLA and the author of Gender and the South China Miracle and Against the Law: Labor Protests in China's Rustbelt and Sunbelt. Mary E. Gallagher is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan and the author of Contagious Capitalism: Globalization and the Politics of Labor in China.
Content
1. Introduction and Argument
Mary E. Gallagher, Ching Kwan Lee, and Sarosh KuruvillaPart I: Informalization and the State2. The Informalization of the Chinese Labor Market
Albert Park and Fang Cai3. Legislating Harmony: Labor Law Reform in Contemporary China
Mary E. Gallagher and Baohua Dong4. Social Policy and Public Opinion in an Age of Insecurity
Mark W. FrazierPart II: Transformation of Employment Relations in Industries5. Enterprise Reform and Wage Movements in Chinese Oil Fields and Refineries
Kun-Chin Lin6. The Paradox of Labor Force Dualism and State-Labor-Capital Relations in the Chinese Automobile Industry
Lu Zhang7. Permanent Temporariness in the Chinese Construction Industry
Sarah SwiderPart III: Unions, Nongovernmental Organizations, and Workers8. "Where There Are Workers, There Should Be Trade Unions": Union Organizing in the Era of Growing Informal Employment
Mingwei Liu9. The Anti-Solidarity Machine?: Labor Nongovernmental Organizations in China
Ching Kwan Lee and Yuan Shen10. Conclusion
Mary E. Gallagher, Sarosh Kuruvilla, and Ching Kwan LeeNotes
References
Notes on Contributors
Index
Mary E. Gallagher, Ching Kwan Lee, and Sarosh KuruvillaPart I: Informalization and the State2. The Informalization of the Chinese Labor Market
Albert Park and Fang Cai3. Legislating Harmony: Labor Law Reform in Contemporary China
Mary E. Gallagher and Baohua Dong4. Social Policy and Public Opinion in an Age of Insecurity
Mark W. FrazierPart II: Transformation of Employment Relations in Industries5. Enterprise Reform and Wage Movements in Chinese Oil Fields and Refineries
Kun-Chin Lin6. The Paradox of Labor Force Dualism and State-Labor-Capital Relations in the Chinese Automobile Industry
Lu Zhang7. Permanent Temporariness in the Chinese Construction Industry
Sarah SwiderPart III: Unions, Nongovernmental Organizations, and Workers8. "Where There Are Workers, There Should Be Trade Unions": Union Organizing in the Era of Growing Informal Employment
Mingwei Liu9. The Anti-Solidarity Machine?: Labor Nongovernmental Organizations in China
Ching Kwan Lee and Yuan Shen10. Conclusion
Mary E. Gallagher, Sarosh Kuruvilla, and Ching Kwan LeeNotes
References
Notes on Contributors
Index