Call for Papers: Work, Labor and Employment in China
The 31st International Labor Process Conference March 18-20, 2013, at Rutgers University
China Stream for the International Labor Process Conference (ILPC 2013)
Coordinators: Mingwei Liu (Rutgers), Chris Smith (Univ. of London), Joel Andreas (Johns
Hopkins), Chris K.C. Chan (City Univ. of Hong Kong), Tony Fang (Univ. of Manitoba)
China’s economic reform, now in its fourth decade, has gradually transformed the country from a Communist planned economy to a mixed economy with elements of both market and central planning. Not only has unprecedented economic growth been generated by this transformation, but work and employment in the Chinese workplace have been fundamentally reshaped. In particular, the highly rigid and centralized “iron rice bowl” system in which state workers enjoyed lifetime employment; standard, stable, and egalitarian wages; and “cradle-to-grave” welfare has been gradually replaced by a labor contract system characterized by high managerial autonomy, employment flexibility, and contributory social insurance schemes.
The changing faces of workers, trade unions, labor NGOs, employers, governments (central and local), labor processes, employment practices, workplace democracy, and labor-management relations have to some extent been documented by the growing literature of China labor studies. However, the Chinese workers, employers, and local governments are much more diversified and the interactions and relationships among the three actors are much more complicated than the existing scholarship has revealed. An illustrative example is that while Honda workers in Guangdong went on strikes asking for higher wages, their counterparts in Hubei gained significant wage increase through union-led collective consultation, and General Motor workers in Shanghai were even able to buy GM cars. Moreover, the Chinese labor market institutions and workplace relations have been constantly changing. For instance, since 2007 China has enacted several important labor laws such as the labor contract law, the labor dispute mediation and arbitration law, and the social insurance law, the effects of which on employment practices and workplace dynamics have not been systematically examined or even explored. In addition, China has experienced another wave of strikes since 2010, the causes, processes, and outcomes of which have not been well studied.
This stream therefore seeks research papers to provide up-to-date knowledge on, but not limited to, the following topics:
• The changing notions of work in diversified workplaces and for different groups of workers
• The changing working class interests, subjectivities, and identities
• Alienation and exploitation with Chinese characteristics
• The roles and dynamics of gender and ethnicity in the workplace
• Work organization and labor process in less studied industries such as logistics, civil service, biotech, and healthcare
• The changing labor process and employment relations in the state sector
• The emerging new employment practices and employment relationships
• The enforcement of the new labor laws and their impacts on workers’ outcomes and employment relations
• The causes, processes and outcomes of labor disputes and conflicts
• Recent development of workplace democracy and collective bargaining and their effects on worker/firm outcomes
• The changing roles of trade unions, labor NGOs, and other worker organizations in the workplace
• The effects of unions, labor relations / human resource practices, and work organization on worker/firm outcomes
• The impact of other institutions or organizations, such as the hukou system, the tripartite system, and the communist party branches, on workers or the workplace
• The employment relations strategies of government, employers, and workers and their effects on workplace outcomes
• The development of the corporate social responsibility movement and its effects on worker/firm outcomes
• Employment practices, labor processes, and employment relations in overseas Chinese firms
• China’s Influence on labor and employment in other countries including both developed and other developing / Asian countries
We are seeking submissions from scholars in relevant disciplines such as sociology, political science, industrial relations, and management. While we have a particular interest on workplace case studies and ethnographies, other methodological approaches are equally welcome as long as the research is related with workers, workplace, or employment relations.
The International Labor Process Conference (ILPC) is broadly focused on work and employment relations in the context of the broader political economy, with an emphasis on employee perspectives and theory-led empirical research. We are formally setting forth a call for papers in China Stream to be included in the 2013 conference to be held at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA, March 18-20. Visit www.ilpc.org.uk for more information.
The 31st International Labor Process Conference 18-20 March 2013
Any questions please contact: ilpc.admin@ilpc.org.uk
Please submit your paper abstract online at www.ilpc.org.uk
The deadline for submissions of abstracts and panel proposals is October 31, 2012 and decisions on acceptance will be made in December. All abstracts must be 350-500 words in length. Abstracts are externally refereed and papers must not have been previously published or presented elsewhere. Abstracts to general conference and special streams are also submitted at www.ilpc.org.uk by October 31, 2012.
