The unrest and relative empowerment of the working class in contemporary China

Date

2019-12

Author

Gürel, Burak
Kozluca, Mina

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This paper puts forward three arguments regarding the nature and consequences of China’s rising labor unrest. Firstly, China’s rapid economic growth in the reform era was made possible by a large reserve army of labor, consisting mainly of semi-proletarianized migrant workers from the countryside. Secondly, the deepening proletarianization of and discrimination against migrant workers in recent years has led to a significant increase in labor movements. Finally, rising labor unrest has resulted in significant wage increases, the relative formalization of labor, and a significant decline in profitability.

Subject Keywords

China, Informalization, Migrant workers, Proletarianization, Labor unrest

URI

http://www2.feas.metu.edu.tr/metusd/ojs/index.php/metusd/article/view/1037
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/58116

Collections

Department of Economics, Article