Reworking China’s Proletariat

China's workers have been transformed by the transition to capitalism. Sally Sargeson presents a new theoretical analysis of the impact of capitalism and state power on social identities, employment conditions and workplace organization. Her study draws upon an unprecedented level of empirical research from case studies of the labour market and employment conditions in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province. The book will interest students of Chinese political economy, socialist transition, working class formation and the representation of collective identity. "This book consists of a number of papers presented to the Chinese Economic Association (UK) Annual Conferences in the late 1990s. They address many important issues in China's economy under transition." "In addition to the analyses of specific issues provided by individual papers, themes recurring in several contribute to broader theoretical, empirical and policy literatures. Some focus on the comparative literature on transition economies of China and Eastern European and former Soviet Union countries; some apply new methodologies to the analysis of economic issues such as money demand, consumption behaviour and industrial structural change; while others focus on policy and institutional reforms. Most contributors are experienced China scholars from the United Kingdom, France, the United States of America as well as from China itself."--Jacket "Following the road of an autarkic and egalitarian socialism for several decades, China has implemented economic reform and open-door policies since the late 1970s. This monograph sets out to analyse and compare the Chinese economy between the pre- and post-reform periods, providing insights into national and regional economic trends. The book is importantly focuses on regional comparisons and differences within China. Based on different kinds of regionalization on the Chinese economy, the author analyses the uneven distribution of natural and human resources and probes into the evolution of economic systems and policies from which differing regional economic performances have resulted accordingly."--BOOK JACKET "Sally Sargeson presents the first major study of the impact of market reforms on the recruitment and working conditions, relationships, identities and attitudes of China's new proletariat. Her detailed ethnographic fieldwork in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, forms the basis for a theoretical analysis of the interconnections between the development of capitalist relations of production and class formation in China, and state power, place and particularism."--BOOK JACKET. "This book will be of interest to everyone concerned with contemporary China's political economy, as well as processes of socialist transition, working-class formation, and the representation of collective identities."--BOOK JACKET Front Matter....Pages i-xviii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Introduction....Pages 3-18 Reforming the Proletariat....Pages 19-43 Placing the Proletariat....Pages 44-68 Front Matter....Pages 69-69 Recruitment: Segmenting Class....Pages 71-102 Productive Architecture....Pages 103-123 Labour Processes....Pages 124-148 A Cipher of Class: The Wage-Labour Bargain....Pages 149-182 Front Matter....Pages 183-183 Neighbourhood Identities, Neighbourhood Dispositions....Pages 185-219 Conclusion....Pages 220-227 Back Matter....Pages 228-278 "This book presents a comprehensive overview and an economic analysis of China's economic reform experiences, particularly those since the late 1980s. It covers many institutional details of key aspects of the Chinese economy, including fiscal and monetary management, financial sector development, state enterprise reform, international trade, foreign investment, decentralization and regional development."--Jacket This study offers an analysis of the impact of capitalism and state power on social identities, employment conditions and workplace organization in China. The author draws on research from case studies of the labour market and employment conditions in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province.