| Author: | Yau, Tze Ken |
| Title: | Reconfiguring the state and labour activism in informal employment - a study of the construction industry in China |
| Advisors: | Pun, Ngai (APSS) Chan, Jenny (APSS) Lee, James (APSS) |
| Degree: | Ph.D. |
| Year: | 2020 |
| Subject: | Construction industry -- Subcontracting -- China Construction workers -- China Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Department of Applied Social Sciences |
| Pages: | 236 pages |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | The Chinese economic reform has brought about a new social structure under the neo-liberalist agenda where the accumulation of capital predominated. Its accumulation and economic growth were mainly promoted at the expense of workers' interest. In particular, informal workers were one of the most vulnerable and precarious groups without much legal and social protection. This form of employment relationship was apparent in the construction industry where the system of labour subcontracting has brought about an informalization of labour relations. This arrangement not only undermined workers' bargaining power, but also exploited workers in unconscionable ways for the sake of capital accumulation in real estate industry and government revenue. This research critically reviewed the informal employment among peasant construction workers. The significant role of labour subcontractors and the absence of labour contracts in the industry explained its authentic nature and attributed to the sources of the illegal practices which were not properly handled by the legal system of the state. In addition to review the structure of the industry, my thesis further distinguished the stage of recruitment and the stage of employment so as to develop a modified analysis on employment configuration. On top of these analyses, my research indicated the significance of social ties under embedded employment within the construction workers contributed to the labour activism. The precarity of the construction workers and the tedious legal procedures of the state explained their non-legalistic cellular activism in their collective actions. The role of the state, production relations, the structure of construction industry and working conditions of construction workers were reviewed and studied. Through in-depth review of two case studies, I have also examined the counteraction and strategies of the state responding to the challenges of labour activism. The social ties on one hand were favourable to the rise of labour activism, but on the other hand they brought constraints and limitations to the collective actions to have broader agenda consolidating class consciousness. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | open access |
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