Paradoxes of Labour Reform: Chinese Labour Theory and Practice from Socialism to Market

Labour reform is only one component of the larger process of reforming economy and society experienced by China from the late seventies, and is probably the part of this process where paradoxes emerge most clearly. The book suggests a two-level analysis as labour theory and consequent policy and law making emerging from a rapidly changing ideological environment violently clash with the social and practical contradictions of policy implementation. It is argued that this is accompanied by an increasing resistance by society to the state’s overall policies as well as by an increasing—functional and tolerated—informalization of labour practices.

Tomba borrows historical analytical tools in order to shed light on how policy making takes place in contemporary China and shows it to be an experimental and self-fulfilling process where decisions are taken only long after being introduced into daily practice. This book will be valuable to students of contemporary Chinese society and key to the understanding of 25 years of Chinese labour reform.

• Luigi Tomba, Author