Suchergebnisse

Although much has been written about China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), so far little attention has been paid to how Chinese investment is affecting workers in BRI-targeted countries. To explore this dimension of global China, this paper examines the labor rights situation at Chinese-owned construction sites in Sihanoukville, a city on the Cambodian coast that in recent years has been described as embodying the worst excesses of Chinese foreign investment. Based on extensive interviews with Chinese and Cambodian workers, this paper argues that while Chinese-owned construction sites in Cambodia are grounded in a labor regime as exploitative as those in mainland China, workers' agency in the former case is further undermined by their employers' adoption of a policy of labor force dualism that draws boundaries between Chinese and Cambodian workers. (Crit Asian Stud/GIGA)

What follows is a fictionalised account of the last days of Shi Yang (1889-1923) based on the prison diaries included in the commemorative volume Shi Yang jinian wenji (Museum of the 7 February Massacre, Wuhan 1988). Shi Yang was a weiquan lawyer ante litteram, and to this day he remains an inspiration to many labour activists in China. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) celebrates him as a martyr of the revolution, the irony of which will not escape those who are aware of the plight of human rights lawyers and labour activists in the country today. That in April 2018 the Chinese government passed a new law to protect the reputation and honour of 'its' heroes and martyrs can be seen as further adding to the irony.

The narrative about Chinese NGOs active in defending migrant workers' rights describes these organizations as increasingly powerful instruments through which Chinese people take part in public affairs, develop and articulate personal interests, and collectively form a more active and participatory citizenry. This article challenges not only the idea of labour NGOs as a progressive force for political change, but also the belief - widely shared among the international labour movement - that these organizations are sprouts of independent unionism in China. After a short overview of the historical process which led to the birth of labour NGOs in China, this article analyses the relations between these NGOs and four fundamental actors - the state, the workers, international donors and other NGOs - and argues that many of these organizations are struggling as a consequence of a substantial lack of social capital.

The narrative about Chinese NGOs active in defending migrant workers' rights describes these organizations as increasingly powerful instruments through which Chinese people take part in public affairs, develop and articulate personal interests, and collectively form a more active and participatory citizenry. This article challenges not only the idea of labour NGOs as a progressive force for political change, but also the belief - widely shared among the international labour movement - that these organizations are sprouts of independent unionism in China. After a short overview of the historical process which led to the birth of labour NGOs in China, this article analyses the relations between these NGOs and four fundamental actors - the state, the workers, international donors and other NGOs - and argues that many of these organizations are struggling as a consequence of a substantial lack of social capital.

AbstractThe narrative about Chinese NGOs active in defending migrant workers' rights describes these organizations as increasingly powerful instruments through which Chinese people take part in public affairs, develop and articulate personal interests, and collectively form a more active and participatory citizenry. This article challenges not only the idea of labour NGOs as a progressive force for political change, but also the belief – widely shared among the international labour movement – that these organizations are sprouts of independent unionism in China. After a short overview of the historical process which led to the birth of labour NGOs in China, this article analyses the relations between these NGOs and four fundamental actors – the state, the workers, international donors and other NGOs – and argues that many of these organizations are struggling as a consequence of a substantial lack of "social capital."

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2018 was the year of the 'earthly dog'. In the middle of the long, hot, and feverish dog days of the summer of 2018, some workers at Shenzhen Jasic Technology took their chances and attempted to form an independent union. While this action was met by the harshest repression, it also led to extraordinary demonstrations of solidarity from small groups of radical students from all over the country, which in turn were immediately and severely suppressed. China's year of the dog was also imbued with the spirit of another canine, Cerberus—the three-headed hound of Hades—with the ravenous advance of the surveillance state and the increasing securitisation of Chinese society, starting from the northwestern region of Xinjiang. This Yearbook traces these latest developments in Chinese society through a collection of 50 original essays on labour, civil society, and human rights in China and beyond, penned by leading scholars and practitioners from around the world.